Rampant Liverpool hammer Sparta Prague in Europa League

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) — Liverpool dominated Sparta Prague 5-1 in a Thursday UEFA Europa League first-leg match in the final 16, played in the Czech capital to control this tie.

Following Argentine midfielder Alexis Mac Allister's early goal from the penalty spot at Prague's Stadion Letna, Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez scored twice to secure a 3-0 lead for the Reds before the break.

Liverpool's Conor Bradley scored an own goal in the early minutes of the second half.

But Luis Diaz made it 4-1, scoring for Liverpool in the 53rd minute.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool's Hungarian star, scored a solo-effort goal in the injury time to name the result, 5-1, for the visitors.

After the final whistle, Liverpool captain Andrew Robertson said the team was "delighted" after their big win in Prague, with the English club now "in the driving seat."

"We want to go to the final of this competition and we made one step towards it tonight. We did our homework well as we always do. Sparta caused us a lot of problems but we managed to solve them in one or another way, either it was a defender or a goalkeeper," Robertson said in post-game remarks.

Liverpool will meet Sparta Prague at Anfield Stadium in the second leg on March 14.

- Thursday's 1st leg results:

Sparta Prague - Liverpool: 1-5

Roma - Brighton: 4-0

Qarabag - Bayer Leverkusen: 2-2

Olympique Marseille - Villarreal: 4-0

Benfica - Rangers: 2-2

Freiburg - West Ham United: 1-0

AC Milan - Slavia Prague: 4-2