Liverpool crash to defeat
Liverpool’s ambitions of going through the Premier League season unbeaten were ended yesterday in a surprise 3-0 loss at Watford, marking the runaway leaders’ first loss in 45 top-flight matches stretching back to January last year.
All of Watford’s goals, through Ismaila Sarr’s double and Troy Deeney, came in the second half as Liverpool’s record-tying 18-match winning run since October disintegrated against a team languishing in the relegation zone.
Liverpool are still the heavy favorite to clinch a first championship title in 30 years – the Reds hold a massive 22-point lead over Manchester City – but the manner of the collapse at Vicarage Road will be worrying for manager Juergen Klopp, whose typically obdurate defence was carved open repeatedly.
This defeat came after a 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 match and a sloppy display in beating West Ham 3-2.
That left Liverpool tied with Manchester City’s class of 2017-18 on 18 straight Premier League wins – a record in the English top flight – but the streak came crashing to an end away.
Liverpool’s most recent loss had been to City on January 3, 2019 – midway through last season.
The team had only dropped points once this season, away to Manchester United in a 1-1 draw on October 20.
Klopp congratulated Watford. ‘‘I am not surprised by the performance because that would mean I never saw something like that before. I saw it a lot of times,’’ Klopp said.
‘‘What I can say and I think is 3-0 is a bit harsh but we had a big hand in that so we don’t have to think about that.
‘‘The most important thing is congratulations Watford, well deserved. That is what should be the headline.
‘‘We didn’t perform like we should have and Watford performed like they wanted.’’
Liverpool conceded a sloppy first goal in the 54th minute when a throw-in bounced over defender Dejan Lovren, Abdoulaye
Doucoure drove the ball across the face of goal, and Sarr tapped home.
Sarr was given freedom to race behind Liverpool’s defence and onto Deeney’s through-ball before chipping goalkeeper Alisson for the second in the 60th.
Then, in the 72nd, Deeney stroked the ball into an unguarded net after Sarr intercepted a sluggish back-pass from Trent Alexander-arnold that was aimed for Alisson.
Arsenal, of the 2003-04 season, remains the only team to go through a season undefeated since the start of the Premier League in 1992.
They also hold the record for longest unbeaten run in the Premier League at 49.
In other results, Chelsea drew 2-2 with Bournemouth, Newcastle drew 0-0 with Burnley 0-0, Crystal Palace beat Brighton 1-0, while West Ham beat Southampton 3-1 to also move out of the relegation zone.
Team Wellington secured their place in the national men’s football league playoffs with a win over defending champions Eastern Suburbs yesterday.
Waitakere United moved closer to cementing themselves in the top four after beating Hamilton Wanderers on Saturday, while Southern United pulled off a dramatic comeback to stay in the race for the final two playoff spots.
Leaders Auckland City weren’t in action this weekend, as they are in Tahiti on OFC Champions League duty, and now sit three points ahead of Team Wellington with three games to play.
They hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over their rivals, so will need to slip up at least twice in their final three matches – away to Eastern Suburbs, at home to Southern United, and at home to Waitakere – to lose their grip on the top spot.
There are just two matches this weekend, between Suburbs and Hawke’s Bay in Auckland, and the Wellington Phoenix reserves and Tasman in Wellington, as the Champions League continues to interfere with the national league schedule.
Suburbs and Tasman will be favourites to win and put some breathing space between them and Southern and Wanderers heading into the business end of the season.