Los Blancos Reds with vital comeback win in the Capital
West Ham United 1 Liverpool 2, 26th April 2023.
West Ham United 1 Liverpool 2, 26th April 2023.
WEST HAM UNITED 1 (Paquetá 12)
LIVERPOOL 2 (Gakpo 18, Matip 67)
Last evening at the London Stadium, Los Blancos Liverpool in their all silver away strip that looks more to the human eye as the all white of their European nemesis Real Madrid, grabbed a vital, come from behind victory against the claret and blue dressed “Hammers” and “Irons” of West Ham United in a frankly forgettable, one paced game but the dividend of 3 Premier League points was all that mattered, and whether it was the romantically tinged Los Blancos or more simply the Mighty Reds of Liverpool, 3 points were easily gained, and the Reds are back up to 6th in the table and with 6 games to go, Champions League qualification is still a distant but distinct possibility.
In truth, it wasn’t much of a game with the home team Hammers looking tired and one paced (aside from yet another impressive performance from their skipper Declan Rice) after recent Premier League wins have almost, almost, certainly assured them of their status in England’s top division as well as yet another Semi-Final place in European competition. If you’ll permit a little linguistical and literary licence, their goal and other meagre goal scoring chances all came out of the claret and blue and totally against the run of play wholly dominated by an assured, comfortable Liverpool in complete control of the game. Lucas Paquetá’s opening goal on 12 minutes, although wonderfully created via a neat one-two with Michail Antonio came both out of the blue and centrally in the goal past a flailing Alisson Becker between the “sticks” for the Reds. I love the beautifully bearded Brazilian commonly known as simply “Ali” but I felt at the time he could have done better with the snapshot but it mattered not as within just 6 minutes, Liverpool levelled through a brilliant and even longer range drive from fully 25 yards out from the impressive as ever Cody Gakpo.
1–1 at half-time was a shade unlucky for a dominant Reds who had to thanks the big man Virgil van Vijk for preserving even this parity status right on the cusp of the break as after another footballing move out of the blue from the home team saw a perfect cross from Saïd Benrahma needing just a toe-poke from his striker Michail Antonio at the far post. Instead, it found the desperately retreating Dutch defender who was simply magnificent all evening. 10 minutes into the second half saw an otherwise quiet Jarrod Bowen score a superb, sweeping, break-away goal denied by the VAR killjoys, and that was all she wrote for a rather insipid and tired looking London team.
On the other side of the footballing ledger, I saw a return to the dominant, high pressing Reds who were rapier like in transition and whilst not a constant goal threat, certainly in total control of a game whereby anything but an away win would have been an injustice. Diogo Jota again looked back to his nagging, probing best (especially so in the first half) and the Portuguese striker looks firmly match fit once more. Colombian wizard Luis Díaz sparkled instantly on his introduction as a substitute and he has another 30 minutes of game time under his belt following his long term injury. Fabinho dominated proceedings in the centre of the pitch and didn’t get booked. A rarity for the big man from Brazil! Mo Salah was in and out of the game, Andy Robertson provided yet another assist for the winning goal and his career collection, and Liverpool born Curtis Jones impressed again by always wanting the ball and always looking for an incisive and progressive pass forward.
Being a Liverpool Red of my vintage, I can’t help but smile as I see Joël Matip marauding forward on one of his mazy runs akin to Alan Hansen in his trophy laden pomp and if you want the purest example of a “bullet header”, then he provided one on 67 minutes for the winning goal. Denied mere seconds earlier by the legs of both Aaron Cresswell and his goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański in a frantic double defensive save, he would not be denied with his header that was a footballing beauty all of its own.
Talking of footballing beauty, may I present to you 24 year old Liverpudlian Trent Alexander-Arnold, for it was he with the risky, incisive pass that led to Cody Gakpo’s brilliantly taken equalising goal and it was the Liverpool born youngster who was everywhere once more in the cause of the team he adores. He epitomised the domination the Reds had with a stunning first half display of floating around in the centre of the pitch and always wanting the ball, always being ready to receive it and, as is his way, splaying passes cross field with ease, precision and attacking intent.
“Man of the Match” in a team full of them, and just ahead of fellow local youngster Curtis Jones.
Well played kids.
Afterword from The Boss, Jürgen Klopp, courtesy of www.liverpoolfc.com
“I liked the performance a lot, big parts of it. First half, I think we were exceptional. Controlled the game from the beginning pretty much, made one mistake and bam — 1–0 down. Great goal, I have to say — what a screamer — but we stayed calm, kept playing, scored our screamer as well and controlled the game. I am not 100 per cent sure, but it felt like around 80 per cent possession and that is difficult, we all know, I think the crowd was waiting for a lot of challenges and we played around that. In the end, if you look at the game, I think we are the deserved winner and that’s, for me, very important. If we got a point, I’m still happy with the game, not with the result — but now I’m happy with both”.
“I can’t see the race yet, I can’t. That’s because we are not in the position for a race. So the only thing we can do is winning football games. If that puts pressure on other teams, that’s not in our hands because we don’t play them. We play Tottenham — that’s it from that area, I think, of teams above us. If they win all their games, that’s it for us. But I don’t think about that. I want us to finish the season as good as somehow possible. I want to take something out of the season for next year. If that is European competition, great. If not, we have to accept it as well and go from there. That’s what I want now”.
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:
Salah and Jota cut down Forest
Liverpool 3 Nottingham Forest 2, 22nd April 2023.medium.com
Gifts galore at Elland Road as Reds hit Leeds for six
Leeds United 1 Liverpool 6, 17th April 2023.medium.com
Honours even in Anfield battle of wills
Liverpool 2 Arsenal 2, 9th April 2023.medium.com