Nunez at the double but Becker the unsung hero as the Reds sign off for the World Cup with a win
Liverpool 3 Southampton 1, 12th November 2022.
Liverpool 3 Southampton 1, 12th November 2022.
LIVERPOOL 3 (Firmino 6, Nunez 21, 42)
SOUTHAMPTON 1 (Adams 9)
As this is my 500th article here on Medium (my 104th for the Mighty Reds of Liverpool) and because I endeavour to write these instant reaction match reports in a slightly different way each time and without any further ado, here’s my footballing 1–11 footnotes from this afternoon’s Premier League encounter with the “Saints” of Southampton:
(1) Liverpool had a number of prime candidates for my vaunted award of the “Man of the Match” but the unsung hero of the day, and looking mighty sexy in his pre World Cup haircut and shave, is Reds goalkeeping custodian Alisson Becker. I’ll come onto why Darwin Nunez will take today’s most valuable player award and why my personal vote goes to the Scotland captain Andy Robertson for his effervescent attacking display, but please do not overlook the ruggedly handsome man in the Reds goal, on his 150th appearance for Liverpool to boot, and for his fantastic one handed saves in a somewhat damp squib of a 2nd half this afternoon. With the game arguably won with a 3–1 half-time advantage, the Reds only really created two headed goal scoring chances for ex Southampton saint Virgil van Dijk, but were indebted to their Brazilian goalkeeper as first he denied Mohamed Elyounoussi on 62 minutes with a wonderful one handed save before repeating the trick with an even better stop 15 minutes later to deny Che Adams his second goal of the game and perhaps a frantic fight back from the visitors. In between these saves, Becker also denied Saints substitute Samuel Edozie with a great smothering save on 63 minutes and with his team not sparking or dominating as they did in the 1st half, Becker’s brilliance this afternoon was vital.
(2) That Southampton away kit! Dreadful with a capital D! A paint splattered mess that clearly passes for a marketing team’s great idea. Pale blue shirts, dark blue shorts and of course, the irony isn’t lost on your humble footballing narrator and a man born just 19 or so miles from the south coast city of Southampton. Their mortal and local football enemies are the blue shirt wearing Portsmouth, so today’s victory for me was doubly pleasing as well as equally perplexing for their choice of visiting attire!
(3) GOAL!
LIVERPOOL 1 SOUTHAMPTON 0 (Firmino 6)
A sloppy foul from Saints central defender Duje Caleta-Car presented a free kick on their defensive left hand side which Andy Robertson curled perfectly onto the head of Roberto Firmino just inside the visitors penalty area. His flicked header looped over a static defence, as well as a seemingly startled Gavin Bazunu in the Southampton goal who took a step too far to his left, and the Brazilian’s long range header gently bounced into the corner of his net as the Saints goalkeeper scrambled in vain back to his right. A somewhat soft goal but a goal from the man with the widest smile in football is always a welcome sight to see.
(4) GOAL!
LIVERPOOL 1 SOUTHAMPTON 1 (Adams 9)
The Reds didn’t learn their lesson from the very first minute of the game and Adams’ free header he screwed badly and awkwardly wide. 8 minutes later he made them pay with another free header as both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez made their only mistakes of the afternoon and simply let the 26 year old Scotland striker run free and head past a flailing Alisson Becker. An altogether horrendous defensive lapse all round, but brilliantly exploited by a brilliant dead ball (as usual) from Saints captain James Ward-Prowse and the simplest of headed goals for his gleeful striker.
(5) I’ve had a love affair with the genius footballing skills of Thiago Alcantara ever since he signed from Bayern Munich 2 years ago and I can’t but admire a man who plays with his socks rolled down, his head up, his freedom of expression always in the highest of gears and who’ll be a miss for the Spain national team at a World Cup that will be poorer for his omission. Fantastically selfish good news if you’re a Liverpool fan as the Spanish footballing wizard gets to have a long rest before playing any further competitive football, but not so the Italian born Spanish playmaker.
(6) GOAL!
LIVERPOOL 2 SOUTHAMPTON 1 (Nunez 21)
The opening 20 minutes, and the 1st half as a whole, was an entertaining affair and an unusually open game that flowed from end to end at times. This was typified throughout by Andy Robertson’s defensive bursts from left back and his link up play with Darwin Nunez. The counter point of course was the Saints exploitation of the gap(s) left by the flying Scotsman and hence the game was dominated down the attacking left of the Reds and the down the attacking right for their south coast visitors. On 16 minutes, a brilliant move down the Liverpool attacking left saw Robertson releasing Nunez with a pinpoint pass for the Uruguayan striker to cross instantly into the Saints penalty area that resulted in a brilliant smothering save from their goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to deny Mo Salah but 5 minutes later, the Reds would have a deserved lead.
After a scrappy passage of pinball football, the ball landed at the gifted feet of the Reds 19 year old wunderkind Harvey Elliott. His delicate chip into the Saints penalty area was volleyed perfectly, and equally delicately, into the far corner of the visitors goal by Darwin Nunez for a beautiful footballing goal, but please discount overlook the part paid by Elliott’s vision. He may be a Londoner and boyhood Liverpool fan, but there’s something of a Spanish visionary midfielder of the Guardiola/Del Bosque/Enrique era in this young kid, and all power to him. He’s going to be some player.
(7) GOAL!
LIVERPOOL 3 SOUTHAMPTON 1 (Nunez 42)
As with the above, the portent for the Reds third and final goal of the afternoon came minutes earlier, and in a brilliant sweeping move from defence into instant attack. On the half hour, and as the Reds swept into attack, Elliott fed Salah who instantly cycled the ball to Nunez who, in stride, backheeled the ball perfectly inside for a marauding Roberto Firmino but yet again, Gavin Bazunu repelled a brilliant attack with a superb smothering save. 12 minutes later and on the cusp of half-time, Thiago was orchestrating the game again from just inside the Saints half before releasing a pass to Roberto Firmino. The Brazilian’s relayed pass to the ever running Andy Robertson split the Saints defence in half and Robertson’s instant fizzing cross was swept majestically into the Saints goal by Darwin Nunez.
Two goals for Nunez.
Two assists from Andy Robertson.
The goal looked simple, but it was perfection from Thiago to Nunez, and the ball never left the lush Anfield turf.
(8) Darwin Nunez will no doubt have secured many “Man of the Match” awards for his display today and rightly so. He was his usual nuisance self, the 1st half particularly, but he bagged two good, authentic, typical, goal scorers goals, and if he plays up front with ex Red Luis Suarez in the Uruguayan World Cup team this winter, they’ll be a footballing nightmare to reckon with in Qatar.
(9) Andy Robertson bags my particular award today and just pips Thiago, Nunez and Alisson Becker for his all round, non stop running, attacking threats and blemish free defensive display. Firmly rooted back as Jurgen Klopp’s left back in his strongest starting XI. Brilliant display today.
(10) Southampton’s Bananarama named new manager Nathan Jones has inherited a promising team and working ethos from the recently departed Ralph Hasenhuttl, and will now have six weeks in which to work with a new set of players and in arguably the toughest footballing league in the world. He wouldn’t have replaced the Austrian born Hasenhuttl had the Saints been thriving and playing winning football, and so he inherits a team next to the bottom of the Premier League and, if Wolves beat Arsenal in today’s late game (unlikely and written before the game’s kick-off), he could find himself managing the league’s bottom placed club. But Jones has more than a shell of a promising team as well as whatever financial outlay promised him in the January transfer window.
(11) On the other side of the Premier League ball, Reds manager Jurgen Klopp can rest easier with his team climbing to 6th position and just (just!) 10 points behind Manchester City. I’m discounting Arsenal for now as they must implode in the new footballing year after the World Cup, but time will tell on that front. Closer to home, Klopp’s foibles continue to be against the lesser teams of the league, a theme which has plagued his otherwise otherworldly tenure as Liverpool manager. No complaints or criticisms here, just a stark fact and as stark a fact as he’ll have both Roberto Firmino (laughably and ridiculously not included in the Brazil World Cup squad) and Thiago Alcantara fresh and rested come the resumption of the Premier League, as well a firing Darwin Nunez, a reinvigorated Andy Robertson and a baller with an old footballing head on the prodigious and precocious shoulders of wunderkind Harvey Elliott.
As we take the ludicrous enforced break for a dubious (to say the very least) World Cup, the Reds remain in all four competitions they entered at the beginning of the season and although I’ve already titled this season as a “Sword of Damocles” affair, who knows what will happen come the resumption of the Premier League at Christmas and who may be gracing the Red of Liverpool come the end of the January 2023 transfer window.
Time will tell.
It always does.
Thanks for reading. My Liverpool FC archives contain a wealth of articles past, present and often personal, or you can find the three most recently published articles on their season hence far linked below:
Kid Kelleher the Kop hero in the Carabao Cup once again!
Liverpool 0 Derby County 0, 9th November 2022.medium.com
Salah at the double to defeat a woeful Spurs. Reds climb to 8th.
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Liverpool 2, 6th November 2022.medium.com
VAR to the rescue as the Reds await the cream of Europe in the New Year
Liverpool 2 Napoli 0, 1st November 2022.medium.com