Can cracker boosts Reds’ top-4 push

Watford, May 2: Liverpool’s Emre Can produced a goal of stunning brilliance to earn a crucial 1-0 victory at Watford on Monday that boosts the Reds’ push for a top-four finish in the Premier League.

A game that had been meandering along amid much mediocrity came to life on the stroke of halftime when Can’s extraordinary overhead scissors kick from Lucas’s chipped through ball rocketed into the top corner.

The strike, hailed by the club’s former defender Jamie Carragher as “one of the great Liverpool goals”, illuminated a dull first-half which had just been enlivened by substitute Adam Lallana’s dipping volley for the visitors that struck the bar.

An uninspired Watford side laboured for an equaliser after the break but still came agonisingly close when Sebastian Prodl smashed a left-foot shot against the bar for the Hornets in the 94th minute.

The victory strengthened Liverpool’s hold on third place with 69 points, three points clear of fourth-placed Manchester City and four ahead of Manchester United, who are fifth.

The two Manchester sides, though, have a game in hand over their Merseyside rivals in the tense race for Champions league qualifying places.

“I have never scored a goal like that — maybe when I was younger. That is the best goal I’ve ever scored,” the exultant Can told Sky Sports.

“I saw the space and I ran behind and my first thought was that I wanted to head it, then I didn’t think too much.

“Everything is now in our hands. If we win the (last) three games we are in the Champions League. We are confident. If we perform how we can perform then we can do it.”

The goal from the German international was unquestionably one of the best seen in the Premier League in 2016-17 but what felt most remarkable about it was that it materialised after such an undistinguished performance from Juergen Klopp’s team.

— Reuters