By Simon Evans
LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) - Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool beat Red Star Belgrade 4-0 in Champions League Group C at Anfield on Wednesday to get their last-16 hopes back on track.
Roberto Firmino set Liverpool, beaten at Napoli in their previous game, on their way in the 20th minute with an emphatic finish after a smart pull back from Andy Robertson found the Brazilian in space in the box.
Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri, busy and creative throughout, fed Salah for Liverpool's second on the stroke of halftime, the Egyptian firing home from inside the box.
Red Star had threatened little and Liverpool put the game beyond them six minutes after the interval when Filip Stojkovic stuck out an arm to block Sadio Mane and Salah blasted home the penalty for his 50th goal in 65 games for the club.
Mane then missed another penalty before making amends with a close-range finish in the 80th minute.
With Paris St Germain and Napoli drawing 2-2 it means Liverpool are now top of the group wih six points, one more than Napoli and two better than PSG.
(Reporting by Simon Evans; editing by Martyn Herman)