Gifts galore at Elland Road as Reds hit Leeds for six
Leeds United 1 Liverpool 6, 17th April 2023.
Leeds United 1 Liverpool 6, 17th April 2023.
With the Reds only picking up two points out of a possible nine from Jürgen Klopp’s “defining” week of football against the reigning Premier League champions Manchester City, the team currently sitting top of the Premier League in Arsenal and a Chelsea team falling from grace even harder and faster than his own team, this evening’s morale boosting result was much needed and the gifts bestowed upon his team by a now seemingly doomed to relegation Leeds United much appreciated. It’s been a long and very painful six weeks since the Reds hit Manchester United for seven unanswered goals in a rout for the ages with both the expected exit from the Champions league at the hands of Real Madrid and the most unexpected of 1–0 losses to Bournemouth, a team Liverpool smashed nine against to supposedly kickstart the league season in a long ago August and a season which has been peppered with highs such as the 9–0 demolition of Bournemouth, the 7–0 hammering of Manchester United and the awful, demoralising defeats to Brighton, Brentford, Nottingham Forest and tonight’s opponents, Leeds United, at the end of October.
The only surprise this evening was that the final score line was only 6–1 in the Reds favour, such were the gifts on offer and, in line with the greatest of unexpected gifts, they came in a colourful range of different shapes and sizes. Take the Reds first goal for example and their first shot on target all evening after 35 long and uninspiring minutes. With Leeds United Junior Firpo trying to run the ball from defence the ball clearly hit Trent Alexander-Arnold on the arm before the young Liverpudlian exchanged passes with Mo Salah and crossed for Cody Gakpo to tap-in at the far post from mere inches out. Now I despise VAR with every fibre of my footballing soul but how this wasn’t adjudged to be handball and thus the goal disallowed is anyone’s guess but mine, but the goal stood and the Reds had both their first welcome gift of the evening and a crucial lead.
The second gift came 4 minutes later as Weston McKennie simply surrendered possession of the ball to an eager Diogo Jota in the centre of the pitch and with his teammates all thundering forward in attack, Jota sprinted clear, Mo Salah made a brilliant crossing run on the edge of the penalty area before smashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the Leeds net.
Two gifts. Two shots on target. Two goals. A 2–0 half-time advantage in a game whereby, with all Red allegiances put to one side, Liverpool had been utterly dreadful.
It took just 2 minutes into the second half for the gifts to continue this evening, but this time it was Leeds on the receiving end of a dreadful dithering gaff from the Reds central defender Ibrahima Konaté who was cut short and pounced upon by the predatory eagerness of Luis Sinisterra who, with Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker sprinting from his goal line to close the angle, simply “dinked” a beautiful finish into the bottom corner of his now empty net. I worried for the energy and rise in the now raucous atmosphere of a desperate Elland Road crowd sensing a way back into a chaotic game but their home team came bearing gifts once more within just 5 minutes, and Liverpool’s third goal came from a throw-in in their own half of the field! If that doesn’t speak volumes enough, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long throw bounced between five white shirts, all of whom dithered making no positive challenge for the loose ball whatsoever and after a quick pass from Cody Gakpo to the mightily impressive Curtis Jones, the young Liverpudlian delivered a beauty of a curling pass into the path of Diogo Jota that he hit first time over the advancing Illan Meslier in the Leeds goal and into his now empty net. What the young French goalkeeper was thinking is again anyone’s guess, but yet another catalogue of errors and gifts had presented the Reds with their two goal cushion again and from here, Liverpool never looked back.
They say the truth hurts and the stark and honest truth from hereon in is that Leeds were a beaten team and they folded like a pack of cards as Liverpool toyed with them and had no need for any further gifts. 3–1 quickly escalated to 5–1 in 20 dominating minutes for the Reds of Liverpool and thoroughly demoralising ones for the home team Whites of Leeds United as both Jota and Salah each notched their second goals of the evening, and with the thoroughly pleasing re-introduction as substitute of the long injured Colombian wizard Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez also coming off the substitutes bench to notch a sixth and final goal in the 90th minute, an evening that started so woefully dreadful, ended with Liverpool grateful for the gifts and hitting their relegation bound hosts for six.
I have a historical soft spot for Leeds United going back to way before the turn of the century and I fear their run-in to the end of the season will see them relegated unless they win their crucial immediate games against Fulham and very definitely Leicester City at Elland Road and then away at Bournemouth. Otherwise they’re joining Southampton and one other team through the trapdoor into The Championship, and their almost certain demise may well save Liverpool’s Blue neighbours across Stanley Park, Everton.
For the Reds, this was a much needed win for sure but no move from 8th position in the Premier League and still a distant 9 points from the coveted 4th place and qualification for next season’s Champions League. 8 games remain and with relegation threatened Nottingham Forest up next who are on a run of only 1 point from a possible 15 and sinking like the proverbial stone, Liverpool simply need all 3 points from Saturday’s encounter.
Following the aforementioned woeful start to the evening, the major positives reside in the brace of goals for both Diogo Jota and Mo Salah, another one for the goal tally of Darwin Núñez too, Virgil van Dijk had a “cigar and slippers” kind of evening and although I was more than a little perplexed at the forward positioning of the skipper Jordan Henderson, I was thoroughly impressed by the performance of Trent Alexander-Arnold, the incredibly pleasing return of Luis Díaz and my personal “Man of the Match” award went to Curtis Jones for his industry, energy, willingness to lose a ball being progressive and proactive and when he did, he ran his backside off to recover it and start all over again. His through ball for Jota’s first and the Reds third goal was an absolute peach too.
Well played kid.
Afterword from The Boss, Jürgen Klopp courtesy of www.liverpoolfc.com
“The moment of the game, the best I enjoyed the most, was the 92nd minute. I think it was already five or six-one, we lose the ball and four players chase the poor, poor player from Leeds down in that moment. I think that’s the basis for the whole game because that gave us stability. It was, from a counter-pressing point of view, definitely the best game we played this season. In possession probably as well”.
“At least three goals we scored [came] after counter-press, which is obviously massively helpful. Then we were calm in the decisive moments to pass exceptional balls. I think Mo’s second was super play, I’m not sure if it was Curtis to Robbo, then Cody, then playing the ball to Mo. That was really, really good. A lot of good moments; the last goal was a sensational pass from Trent and Darwin could finish it off. It was a good game”.
Thanks for reading. There is a wealth of past and present articles on Liverpool FC within my library here or alternatively, here are my three most recently published articles from this season:
Honours even in Anfield battle of wills
Liverpool 2 Arsenal 2, 9th April 2023.medium.com
Reds grab a fortunate point from a miserable game at the Bridge
Chelsea 0 Liverpool 0, 4th April 2023.medium.com
April Fools Day Massacre
Manchester City 4 Liverpool 1, 1st April 2023.medium.com