Reds ease into the last 16 of the Champions League with an imperious victory in Amsterdam
Ajax 0 Liverpool 3, 26th October 2022.
Ajax 0 Liverpool 3, 26th October 2022.
Ajax 0
Liverpool 3 (Salah 42, Nunez 49, Elliott 52)
As you’ll read and discover toward the denouement of this article, I confidently predicted a 3–1 Reds victory this evening pre kick-off inside Ajax’s Johann Cruyff Arena and that act of bravado was based upon the strength of the Liverpool starting XI and an opposition and Dutch champions who simply had to attack and be expansive in search of a victory that would keep them in Europe’s premier competition. With the return of the holding midfield duo of captain Jordan Henderson and Fabinho sitting in front of a now first choice and highly experienced defensive four of personal “Man of the Match” Andy Robertson, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, I simply couldn’t see Ajax troubling the Reds at the back whilst being unable to handle the energy of Harvey Elliott or the nagging persistence of Roberto Firmino or Mo Salah in attack.
I was only a goal away from seeing my silly, if well reasoned prediction come true, but for 40 minutes this evening the Reds of Liverpool looked mighty ordinary and in a spell Reds manager Jurgen Klopp would describe post match as a “tough half an hour” in which they could and should have trailed by 2 goals but instead, entered the half time break a goal ahead. As is Ajax’s way and their famed “total football” philosophy, they pressed Liverpool relentlessly in the game’s opening minutes and it was no surprise that their defensive ball playing stars were marauding upfield and solely responsible for their team’s early domination and goal scoring opportunities. With just 2 minutes on the clock, Steven Berghuis found himself in the Reds penalty area and with a slick run across the face of goal left defenders in his wake before striking the outside of the post. He should have scored but the frenzied start from Ajax continued as the Reds (in their alternative strip of all green — a dreadful kit!) retreated and posed no attacking threat whatsoever. Following an error from Trent Alexander-Arnold it was Berghuis again on 15 minutes who this time narrowly curled an effort just wide of Alisson Becker and the far post of his Liverpool goal but mere seconds later, and with the Reds unable to escape their own half, it was the turn of Ajax’s defensive right back Jorge Sanchez with a stinging shot that now needed the safe handling of the Reds Brazilian goalkeeper.
20 minutes played and still the Reds had failed to mount any sort of attacking threat and whilst comfortable when in possession, as soon as there was a turnover of ball Ajax looked far more likely to score the evening’s first goal. Again it was their ball playing defensive players who posed the more incisive attacking intent and threat with the particularly impressive Jurrien Timber and holding midfielder Edson Alvarez hunting and chasing for possession before transitioning play from a bogged down battle for possession into promising attacks. A fight for possession and blocked tackle towards the end of Jurgen Klopp’s self professed tough half an hour summed up the game thus far: Brian Brobbey forced a loose ball before Davy Klaassen blocked the attempted clearance from Joe Gomez and as the resulting loose ball was fizzed across the Reds penalty area it left Ajax captain Dusan Tadic with a fantastic chance to top off his side match domination thus far and the game’s opening goal. With only Alisson Becker and Trent Alexander-Arnold to beat, his shot was brilliantly blocked by the local born defender and rather capped off (a) an intriguing individual battle between the Ajax attacker and Liverpool defender throughout the game’s opening 30 minutes (b) the ending of Klopp’s fretful and worrisome first half an hour of the game and (c) the emergence of his team as an attacking force and active participant in the game.
With more ball possession came the invaluable tricks and touches of Roberto Firmino who presented Andy Robertson with a difficult goal scoring chance on 34 minutes before 6 minutes later, Harvey Elliott topped off a bright and improving game for both himself and the team by forcing Ajax’s veteran goalkeeper Remko Pasveer into his first save of the evening, albeit an easy one. 2 minutes later though, the giant Dutch goalkeeper would gift Liverpool an opening goal and just 10 playing minutes later, the Reds would be leading 3–0 and the game well and truly over.
Roberto Firmino’s deft flick on 42 minutes still needed his captain Jordan Henderson’s strength in securing the free ball but after the muscle came the finesse of a beautiful pass with the outside of his right foot into the marauding path of Mo Salah. Remko Pasveer had no reason whatsoever to scamper from his goal line but he did so, leaving Salah the relatively easy lob he dispatched perfectly over the advancing goalkeeper and into the corner of his empty net. Quite simply the Reds had stolen both the lead via a gift and the game entire and from being under severe pressure and in peril of being 1 if not 2 goals adrift, they could and should have in fact doubled their half-time advantage. A tenacious run forward from Andy Robertson ended with a perfect pass to Roberto Firmino inside the Ajax penalty area and rather than scoring he unselfishly squared to Darwin Nunez who simply couldn’t miss but did, striking the near post when it seemed easier to score.
Four minutes inside a second half of Liverpool domination Nunez now scored the goal his night of endeavour deserved with a brilliant stooping header from an Andy Robertson corner and just 2 minutes later Trent Alexander-Arnold fed Mo Salah and his sublime reverse pass ran perfectly into the forward run of 19 year old Harvey Elliott and with the angle closing on the young English midfielder, he simply smashed a fierce right footed drive past Remko Pasveer and into the roof of the Ajax goal. From a sticky 30 minutes where his team were outplayed in a “tough” half an hour, Jurgen Klopp had now seen his team score 3 goals in 10 playing minutes and with still 40 minutes left to play, the game was already over.
There are some major and noteworthy plus points from this evening’s 3–0 victory:
(1) Qualification for the last 16 of Europe’s premier competition with a game to spare.
(2) Next week’s clash with Napoli is a “dead rubber” (unless something extraordinary happens) but the Reds have qualified from a tough if beatable group.
(3) An away win in Europe and a clean sheet.
(4) The return of the marauding runs of Andy Robertson and his obvious desperation to be seen unequivocally as the Reds first choice left back in Klopp’s best starting XI.
(5) A “cigar and slippers” return to Amsterdam for an imperious Virgil van Dijk.
(6) A commanding performance from the skipper and a more assured performance from Fabinho beside him.
(7) Another goal from 19 year old wunderkind Harvey Elliott and another impressive performance and poke in the eye to his internet detractors.
(8) Goals for the Egyptian King and Darwin Nunez.
(9) The false 9 and marauding number 10 role and performance from Roberto Firmino and the “glue” he provides as the a first line of defence through to the flicks and tricks that open up defences and keep them continually off balance. As with Elliott above, another performance that should sober thoughts of criticism of him in the wide and weird world of the internet.
I’m not normally as upbeat as this after a Liverpool win but hey, a 3–0 away victory in the Champions League and carefree progress into the real heart of the competition come the new year?
See you on Saturday!
“Allez, Allez, Allez”.
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:
Ex Red Awoniyi cuts down a ragged and out of sorts Liverpool
Nottingham Forest 1 Liverpool 0, 22nd October 2022.medium.com
Nunez goal enough to see off powder puff Hammers at Anfield
Liverpool 1 West Ham United 0, 19th October 2022.medium.com
Cancelo cancelled as City capitulate at a white hot Anfield
Liverpool 1 Manchester City 0, 16th October 2022medium.com