Last night marked a fantastic return to Premier League football for the Reds, with a dominant 3-0 victory over Leicester City to take the club joint-top of the Premier League after nine games in.
Jurgen Klopp’s side sent out a real message with the victory and continued to show that their defence of the Premier League title won’t go down without a fight – especially considering the injuries and absences that currently plagues the Liverpool squad at the moment.
The Reds took the lead in the 21st minute thanks to a Jonny Evans own goal after a great outwinging corner from James Milner that appeared to throw the Northern Irishman off, with him heading the ball into his own net from 5 yards out. I feel for Evans as the own goal was a real misfortune as a player, but full credit to Milner with the quality of the ball into the box.
Brendan Rodgers’ side came close on a couple of occasions later with Harvey Barnes and James Justin’s effort going wide of the post – but just 20 minutes later new boy Diogo Jota carried on his goalscoring form with a cute glancing header after a wonderfully whipped in cross from Andy Robertson to double the Reds’ lead.
Chances that followed for Sadio Mané and Jota went a miss, with Roberto Firmino then hitting the post after a Jota ball into the box after his own shot was saved by Kasper Schmeichel. At this point, I felt a though we could have easily been 4 or 5 nil up but for some reason, matters just weren’t going our way despite the dominant performance.
Who was MOTM vs Leicester?
Diogo Jota
Roberto Firmino
James Milner
Andy Robertson
It seemed as though Firmino would never find the goal he has been searching for, with his effort in the 77th minute hitting the post, only for his rebounded shot to then be cleared off the line by Marc Albrighton. The reaction on Twitter to the incident highlighted just how close the Brazilian came with Liverpool account Empire of the Kop’s tweet a clear indication of the forward’s misfortune…
Aghhh, that's got to be an armpit's hair the wrong side of the line 🙃 #LFC https://t.co/aGQgZbfmGg
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) November 22, 2020
Luckily, however, Firmino finally got his goal with a beautiful header from another impressive out-swinging corner from Milner to end the forward’s goal drought – a much-needed boost of confidence for a fantastic and important player to this Liverpool side. I’m over the moon for Firmino to finally get himself on the scoresheet – it is obvious to me that he is invaluable to this Liverpool side, with his role one of the most demanding and important in the squad.
The win has set the team in great stead for Wednesday’s matchup against Atalanta, with the return leg taking place at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp’s side looks back to some of their best last night even with some big names missing from the squad – highlighting just how talented the dept of this team really is.
What do you think Liverpool fams, were you impressed with last night’s performance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below…