Two goals, a clean sheet and no new injuries: as Champions League quarter final first legs go, things couldn’t have been any better for Liverpool against Porto.
Once again we made life difficult for ourselves, but once again the Liverpool players showed the character and resolve to dig themselves out of a hole at Southampton.
It was another last gasp victory for Liverpool on Sunday, but who cares? The three points at this stage of the campaign is all that matters. Hugo Lloris’ weak parry, which ricocheted into the Spurs net off the shins of Toby Alderweireld, secured a 2-1 victory for the Reds in a game which had gone one way and then the other. In truth, we did fully deserve the victory no matter how scrappily it came.
The international break is welcomed on one hand by Premier League managers trying to juggle their various responsibilities, and loathed by others who fear for the health of their jet-setting stars. Liverpool rely on key figures from pretty much every continent on earth, and so Jurgen Klopp can be forgiven for saying a little prayer for the safe return of his squad after the internationals.
We had queried in our preview of the game whether our proficiency on the counter attack might be the difference between the two sides when Liverpool and Bayern Munich locked horns in their Champions League last 16 second leg encounter, and we’re happy to say we were proven right!
Come rain or shine, Liverpool are hanging on in there in the race for the Premier League title. Buffeted by strong winds and peppered by hailstones, the conditions arguably played into the hands of Burnley’s robust starting eleven on Sunday, and when the Clarets took the lead at Anfield with a dubious goal – surely James Tarkowski fouled Alisson from the corner? – there was a pensive feeling on the terraces.
There has been something of a theme of late as far as Liverpool FC are concerned. The 3-0 and 5-0 wins over Bournemouth and Watford appear to be anomalies almost in a series of performances in which we have dominated proceedings but been unable to find the winning goal.
In our preview of the Watford game, we asked Liverpool to find their mojo again. Ninety minutes, five goals and a clean sheet later, it would be fair to conclude that they did exactly that.
Football still has the ability to surprise us all despite the millions of minutes of the beautiful game we have seen. Most expected the encounter with Manchester United on Sunday to be a highly entertaining affair, with energy and passion matched by attacking intent and quality. Bizarrely, the opposite occurred.
Ordinarily, a goalless draw at home couldn’t be construed as a good result, and particularly not for a Liverpool outfit that has been so good at Anfield this term. But whisper it: maybe the 0-0 stalemate with Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16 first leg on Tuesday was a positive outcome.