“Faith rewarded”: Liverpool journalist reacts to win against Ajax

Liverpool managed early qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League last night after beating Ajax 1-0 at Anfield thanks to a goal from youngster Curtis Jones.

The reaction to the game has been positive after the club’s young stars took to the field last night and played huge roles in helping the club qualify for the last 16, with The Athletic and Liverpool journalist James Pearce voicing his thoughts on the result…

FT: #LFC 1 Ajax 0: The first Champions League goal of Curtis Jones' career enough for Klopp's men to wrap up top spot in Group D with a game to spare. The manager's faith in Caoimhin Kelleher rewarded with a faultless performance from the young Irish goalkeeper. Well deserved win

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) December 1, 2020

Pearce always does a great job at summarising a game and this time he does it again. He chose to single out Jurgen Klopp’s faith in young Irish goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher for his place in the starting XI last night over the usual No.2 Adrian, who was left on the bench for last nights game.

I’m not entirely sure as to Klopp’s decision to choose Kelleher over Adrian – whether that was due to some great stuff shown from the Irishman in training or Adrian not quite performing up to par ahead of the game, who knows, but it was clearly a great decision from Klopp who’s faith in the youngster paid off big time.

I loved the performance from Kelleher last night, with the 22-year-old making some great saves including a fantastic stop from Klaas Jan Huntelaar’s point-blank header in the last minutes of the game that kept hold of the three points and a clean sheet for the youngster.

The Reds have had a tough time of it as of late with injuries to the squad, seeing seven of the first-team currently on the sidelines. Despite this, the youngsters and academy graduates have been there at Klopp’s disposal and have never looked out of place or out of depth, and all credit to them, long may it continue.

What do you think Liverpool fans, did Caoimhín Kelleher impress you last night? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below…