OX PUTS KLOPP ON BRINK
Reds take charge of group after second-half rally
THE good news for Liverpool and England is that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain thinks he will continue to get better. He will hope that he is given the opportunity to take another step forward against Manchester City in the Premier League this Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp selected a team here with Sunday’s game in mind. Five or six sat this out and in their stead were some of the supporting cast. Simply because he is still returning after a serious injury, Oxlade- Chamberlain currently belongs in the latter category.
But he is slowly beginning to straddle the line and here was a performance of such conviction and purpose that it will be soon be very difficult to leave him out. Sunday may come too soon for him. He even suggested as much.
‘I am still feeling my way,’ he said. ‘I am not quite there yet.’
But City manager Pep Guardiola will watch this performance and know that there is another buccaneering attacker in red out there capable of hurting his team.
This was a strange game at times and a night when Liverpool were not at their best. For the eighth game running in all competitions, they failed to keep a clean sheet.
But the two great positives were leadership of their Champions League group on the back of Napoli’s draw with Salzburg and an impressive display from Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Liverpool are at their best when moving forwards at pace and Oxlade- Chamberlain was the embodiment of that philosophy. The 26-year- old played with the confidence and conviction of someone who trusts his body again and after a big injury that is half the battle. The winning goal summed up his night.
Lurking a couple of yards outside the penalty area in the 53rd minute, he received a sideways pass from Mo Salah that he may not have expected. But after cushioning the ball adroitly, he turned swiftly and screwed a low left-foot shot across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.
It was a goal that Liverpool needed and it was fitting that Oxlade-Chamberlain scored it. He had been their best player, the one who played with most belief, the one who seemed to possess the greatest energy.
There were others, too. James Milner was aggressive at left back and Salah was as unselfish as he has ever been or ever will be. Had Liverpool been a little more accurate in front of goal, more than two of their 26 shots would have found a way into the goal.
As it was, this was all a bit squeaky. Liverpool are finding a way to win at the moment without being at their best. That is the way it was here. They could and should have won by many more.
They started brightly enough and scored early. Milner and Divock Origi combined well down the left and when the former crossed low the ball bounced up off defender and captain Sebastien Dewaest and dropped at Georginio Wijnaldum’s feet. The Dutchman helped the ball over the line on the half turn.
For a long spell after that, Liverpool were dominant. Milner drove low from distance, Naby Keita had two shots blocked within 15 seconds and then Oxlade-Chamberlain made a fool of a defender on the edge of the area only to see his own strike come back towards him from a defender.
Salah also came close, shooting across goal, as Liverpool threatened to close out the game. But then, just before half-time, Genk broke to win a corner and when the Tanzanian Mbwana Samatta got ahead of Milner at the near post he powered in a headed equaliser.
On the touchline, Klopp smiled in that rather bemused way of his. His team have a habit of letting opponents in to games at the moment. Liverpool did recover swiftly on this occasion and that will have pleased their manager.
Origi and Salah could have scored in the immediate moments following the equaliser and Liverpool were endlessly superior once Oxlade-Chamberlain had scored his fourth goal in his last four games.
Klopp will probably not worry too much that Liverpool are not winning by larger margins, nor that Genk threatened an equaliser at the end of the game. He knows that improvement at both ends of the field will come later in the season.
Klopp will instead be looking at the incrementals, the small improvements, and nothing will have pleased him more this season than the form of his number 15.
Having moved to Anfield from Arsenal in August 2017, OxladeChamberlain headed north looking to restart his career. Currently he is having to do it again. It is an impressive sight. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 6; AlexanderArnold 6, Van Dijk 6, Gomez 6.5, Milner 7;
OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN 8 (Mane 75mins, 6), Fabinho 7, Wijnaldum 7.5; Salah 7.5, Origi 7 (Firmino 89), Keita 6.5 (Robertson 75, 6).
Subs not used: Adrian, Lovren, Lallana, Jones. Scorers: Wijnaldum 14, Oxlade-Chamberlain 53. Booked: None.
Manager: Jurgen Klopp 6.5. GENK (4-4-2): Coucke 7; Cuesta 6, Dewaest 7.5, Lucumi 7.5, De Norre 6 (Onuachu 85); Maehle 6, Heynen 6, Berge 6.5, Hrosovosky 6 (Bongonda 85); Samatta 7, Ito 6.5 (Ndongala 68, 6).
Subs not used: Vandervoort, Wouters, Piotrowski, Hagi. Scorer: Samatta 41. Booked: Lucumi, De Norre.
Manager: Felice Mazzu 6.5. Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Svk) 7.
Attendance: 52,611.