Liverpool (a) Living on a prayer
No Allan & DCL from the start, Gomes in for Sigurdsson & Coleman coming in to allow the shuffling of the back 4 or was it a back 5? Herr Klopp playing upto the Sky cameras before kick off said “I will have time to work it out”....
Within 3 minutes James Rodriguez had taken the ball out of the air, brought it down & played it in-between LFC’s centre backs. Richarlison, onside & rapid was onto it with the freedom of the Kop end, Alisson tried to narrow the angle but Richarlison had taken the shot probably earlier than the goalkeeper had expected & with far more composure than he’d expected. If only LFC had their supporters at the ground, this would never have happened. 0-1, Martin Tyler almost speechless.
It had all happened so fast, Klopp hadn’t worked out what Carlo was doing, it was a 3-5-2, 5-3-2, 4–4-2 & an occasional 4-5-1, at the heart of it all were 4 players in particular that were key to stability & calmness. Keane, Godfrey, Holgate & Davies throughout the game kept the discipline & shape of the team, in & out of possession, Keane’s management of the defenders stopped SALAHHHHHHH & MANEEEEEE as Martin Tyler likes to call them from getting in behind or around the full backs, even ‘the best left back in world lad’ couldn’t find any space, Ancelotti had for this half nullified anything from wide, which meant LFC had to fo through the middle which played even further into Everton’s hands.
For the first time in an a very long time Everton had more mobility than LFC in midfield, Gomes & Doucoure were not having their best games, but they were breaking things up & spoiling, Davies was picking up the loose balls & finding James as often as he could to feed Richarlison, who had isolated the very poor Kabak. But even in the worst defence in Germany, they’d spotted promise....Richarlison annihilated him all game. It was a mismatch, a horrible mismatch. A rare visit to the Everton box saw the dreadful Firmino’s effort go wide off a Keane block, the frustration in the commentary box was making the viewing even better. Then Pickford made a fantastic save from a Henderson effort that was perhaps edging into the bottom corner. Then disaster struck for the home team, the October cry’s of “Muuummm, Muuumm, Hendo’s scored Muuuumm, was now replaced by “Muuuum, Muuummm Hendo’s injured Muuuummmm” Another mysterious muscle injury for the ‘Champions’...if only those Isotonic recovery drinks that they used to use were still around??
Coleman had a glorious chance to put Everton 0-2 up before the break, Digne’s cross acrobatically headed straight at Alisson, if it was a forward you’d be disappointed that it wasn’t a goal, but this was like a centre half having a one on one with the keeper, you’d like him to score, but he’s not a forward. It was one of those. HT 0-1, We’re half way there!!
The Sky cameras were trained on ‘Big Virg’ at various points of the game & whilst sat in his seat poised for a revenge celebration wave of his crutches, he must have wondered what he was watching. It’d only get worse ‘Virg’, wrap up warm kid, you don’t want to catch cold feet, especially in that wind.
No changes from either manager, Klopp playing to ‘Virg Cam’ & giving a rallying cry in a huddle at pitch side & credit to his players for the first 10 minutes of the second half they tried to pull their manager out of the spot he’d put them in, you know, the overspending on an ill fitted midfielder at the expense of a decent back up centre back..... those ‘Idea balls’ & thumbs up’s just aren’t cutting it in this league. But James with 5 goals & 8 assists is really struggling apparently? That’s the James with more assists at Anfield than the ‘Game changer’ & ‘Signing of the summer’. I can confirm that LFC’s game has changed a lot since Thiago turned up for his one last payday. Or is it that Klopp has had to put his first choice centre midfield into his back 4? Either way, Everton were not being accused of being ahead of an understrength LFC team, that excuse for Klopp was washed away a long time ago. He bought terribly & neglected squad depth. That’s all there is to it. Nobody was going to take away from or discredit this Everton performance.
So once MANEEEEE had a tame header saved by the assured Pickford, he started to fall over & referee Kavanagh was having none of it. Jones was replaced by Shaqiri & he almost linked up with SALAHHHHHH, but once again Pickford was out to smother the shot & reclaim it. LFC were desperate, yet Carlo bided his time & the players stuck the game plan, restrict space behind, stifle midfield. Doucoure & Gomes had stopped tackling eachother by now, Davies still picking up the loose ends. It was going too well wasn’t it?
Eventually Sigurdsson replaced Gomes & Dom replaced James, the games biggest moment orchestrated by him. How’s the view ‘Virg’? On 70 minutes the unthinkable happened, SALAHHHHHH was edging passed Digne on the edge of the box, when he got just inside the box his legs completely gave way, nothing given by Kavanagh, Jamie Carragher on comms “That’s a dive by Mo Salah”... you what Jamie, you actually saw it???
A loose ball at the edge of the area fell between Shaqiri & Godfrey, Ben sprinted 10 yards and thew himself into the tackle that ‘fat calf’s’ wanted none of. In fairness, if It’d been a 50/50, Godfrey would have sent Shaqiri back to the lollipop guild (google it)
Carlo had gone 2 up front with Dom & Richarlison, clearly sensing blood. If LFC scored, we’d score again, no doubts. On 81 minutes Tom Davies as calm as you like plays a slide rule ball from a congested box through to Richarlison midway in his own half. Richarlison had worked tirelessly all game, but still had the energy to spin Phillips & leave him for dead, Dom breaking from halfway & in a foot race with EA sports’s darling & now using just one name ‘Trent’ latched on to Richarlison diagonal & shot first time, Alisson saved but spilled, Dom followed up & tangled with ‘Trent’, Penalty given, PENALTY GIVEN!!!!!!
“That’s not a penalty” claimed ‘Carra’ on comms, Mr Kavanagh begged to differ after Andre Mariner was too scared to make a decision from the VAR desk. Penalty Given from the pitch side monitor.
Say what you want about Gylfi Sigurdsson, but he’s scored some big goals for us this season, if some of his performances have been more than questionable. But as cool as you like it was dispatched, if only a full away section at the Anfield Rd end was there to take it in. 0-2. We’re almost there!!!
LFC had nothing to offer, a Wijnaldum speculative shot was tipped over by Pickford, more in caution than anything else, & the clock counted down. And as the clock counted down the ghosts of horrific games & performances started to fade away. The mental block of the ‘Red wall’ was breached. FT 0-2. It was done.
The scenes on the pitch were no doubt mirrored in millions of Blue homes around the world. Tears would have been shed, there were in my house. I’ve waited, & prayed every year for 22 years for this, even when we’ve had better teams than them, poor management & a bottlers mentality have held us back.
Ancelotti is the difference. Ancelotti is the reason to believe.
Enjoy your Sunday, make sure when you go to work on Monday the Kopites know what colour the City is. 💙
