VAR to the rescue as the Reds await the cream of Europe in the New Year
Liverpool 2 Napoli 0, 1st November 2022.
Liverpool 2 Napoli 0, 1st November 2022.
In his immediate post-match interview and following the 400th game of his career as manager of Liverpool, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was in a belligerently jubilant mood for his team’s hard working 2–0 victory but he also started the interview employing two key phrases: “Being compact makes all the difference” and “Difficult to beat”. As you will read below, your humble football correspondent nailed the compact statement before the Reds manager in my ramblings on Twitter and I’m clearly simpatico with Liverpool’s beloved German manager as pre game I’d scribbled on my match notes that through the inclusion of Ibrahima Konate and James Milner, Klopp clearly wanted his team to be difficult to play against and crucially “play through”, closing the wide open spaces seen in the centre of the Reds team in recent games and ultimately be an all round difficult team to beat. That they were, and whilst often second best in a relatively even game with a quicker, slicker Napoli, Liverpool capitalised on the farce that is VAR and the dystopian spectre of doom that’s strangling the lifeforce from the once beautiful game.
Before the first of three bureaucratic interventions that are stop starting their way to killing the instantaneous and authentic motion and flow of the game worldwide, tonight’s encounter was a tight and level affair which in truth the Italians of Napoli just about shaded. The half-time statistics confirmed as much with both teams having 3 total shots on goal, 1 on target and ball possession at an even 50/50. With both teams having already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League and the knock-out stages in the New Year, only a victory margin better than the 4–1 defeat inflicted upon them by Napoli earlier in the Group would have any impact tonight and at 0–0 after an even and tepid first half, any prospects of such a margin of victory and topping Group A in the process had long since been extinguished. Whilst the Reds were indeed compact and far more solid in the centre of the pitch, Napoli rarely threatened on the wings or wide areas either. I expected tough defensive nights for both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kostas Tsimikas as their individual battles saw them up against arguably Napoli’s greatest goal threats. But Alexander-Arnold versus the incredibly speedy and talented Khvicha Kvaratskhelia became as much of a non-event as Tsimikas’ individual tussle with Matteo Politano, and with the Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo not gallivanting forward down the Italian right wing to join Matteo Politano, it was as even a first half as the dreaded statistics would have you believe.
In truth, the game as a whole was a rather damp squib of an affair as expected of two teams who’d already qualified for the big bucks knock-out rounds in the New Year and with one eye on respective and crucial league games this coming weekend. All that changed when the eye in a darkening football sky (AKA the “Video Assistant Referee”) ruled out a perfectly good goal and expertly performed diving header from Napoli defender Leo Skiri Ostigard that left Alisson Becker helpless in the Reds goal. After the jubilant and ecstatic celebrations in front of their visiting fans had subsided, Ostigard and his Napoli team, the Reds of Liverpool, over 52,000 in their famed Anfield stadium and a watching worldwide audience into the tens of millions all stood still and awaited the confirmation of a goal they’d just seen and experienced with their very own eyes until, nearly four minutes later, the killjoys in VAR deemed the Norwegian central defender to be fractionally, mere inches, in an offside position and the goal we’d all seen, all celebrated, all winced at, all sworn at, wasn’t a goal after all.
Quixotically and very pleasingly, the game seemed to take off from this bureaucratic intrusion early in the second half, spurring both teams forward and chances fell to the dangerous Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for Napoli (volley deflected off Reds Trent Alexander-Arnold but the Georgian international should have scored) and on 80 minutes, Alexander-Arnold now found himself further forward and after a scuffed attempt at goal Mo Salah should have tested Alex Meret in the Italians goal more than his tame effort actually did.
In the simplest of terms, the game and final result rested on the final 13 minutes of match action, two curling and gently out swinging corners from Kostas Tsimikas, two attacking headers from Darwin Nunez and Virgil van Dijk, two reactionary but fumbled saves from Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret, and two tap-in goals on the goal line from Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez. VAR naturally had to get involved somewhere, overruling the on field offside decision that initially ruled out Nunez’s last gasp goal but this sealed the deal on another impressive substitute appearance from the 23 year old Uruguayan and a 2–0 victory for the home team Reds.
Considering the Reds schizophrenic opening to this elongated season, tonight was a much needed win albeit in a “dead rubber” with apparently very little to gain. In fact, and as aptly demonstrated by Jurgen Klopp’s beaming after match smile, the Reds had actually gained an awful lot. His team are back to winning ways by defeating a Napoli team who could go close to the final in Istanbul next summer and his team were far more compact, solid and a problem to play against. Individually, the return of Ibrahima Konate next to Virgil van Dijk in the centre of the Reds defence looked seamless, Thiago was his usual effervescent and energetic self (protected by Fabinho and James Milner) and Curtis Jones was mighty impressive in his 70 on pitch minutes.
There was also a goal for record equalling Mo Salah, another goal for Darwin Nunez and so an all round near perfect night for the German and his beloved Reds.
When the draw is made for the knock-out stages, the Reds can only be paired with teams outside of England and so face the prospect of either a tricky trip to Paris, a revenge mission in Madrid or a meeting with old friend Sadio Mane in Munich. There is also one other possible team they could draw — FC Porto of Portugal, arguably on form but still one of the weakest teams left in the competition and a team the Reds have beaten comfortably home and away in so many recent Champions League seasons.
Regardless, there’s 16 teams left in Europe’s premier football competition and Liverpool are one of those teams.
Rejoice!
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:
Birthday boy Summerville stuns The Kop as an energetic Leeds are far too good for a woeful Reds
Liverpool 1 Leeds United 2, 29th October 2022.medium.com
Reds ease into the last 16 of the Champions League with an imperious victory in Amsterdam
Ajax 0 Liverpool 3, 26th October 2022.medium.com
Ex Red Awoniyi cuts down a ragged and out of sorts Liverpool
Nottingham Forest 1 Liverpool 0, 22nd October 2022.medium.com