A reboot up Kop’s backside
Watford suffered in the FA Cup final looked on the cards. But Villa showed more heart.
Tyrone Mings rallied the players and led by example and, when Stones slipped, El Ghazi escaped down the left and delivered a perfect cross for Samatta to head powerfully home.
As Villa fought for a late equaliser, substitute Conor Hourihane crossed into the City box and a header from Bjorn Engels was destined for the top corner until Bravo somehow clawed it onto the post. It was an incredible save, the moment
City secured yet another trophy, and it was no more than they deserved. Guardiola hugged City fan
Noel Gallagher as he left the pitch – he has become the rock star of football managers.
But Villa boss Dean Smith gathered his players together after the game and will no doubt have told them that, if they continue to play like this, they will stay up.
FROM BACK PAGE disappointment of a horror show at Vicarage Road by insisting: “We can start again.”
Liverpool kissed goodbye to a record-equalling 18 consecutive wins, a 44-match unbeaten run going back to January 2019, dropped points for only the second time this season, and failed to score for the first time in 36 league games.
But despite glaring evidence to the contrary, Klopp claimed they had not breezed into Watford with glib complacency, saying: “We’ve never estimated the situation wrongly. We never thought it would be easy.
“These boys are working extremely hard. If you win, do it in the right manner; if you lose, take it like a man.
“From time to time, if you are not good enough, you need to restart.”
Asked if the error-strewn display might prove a timely kick up the backside ahead of tomorrow night’s
FA Cup fifth-round tie at Chelsea and next week’s Champions League return leg with Atletico Madrid, Klopp shrugged: “Yeah, why not? Why not?
“But none of us has just lost for the first time in our lives. We know how it feels. The reaction you can hope for. We shall see in the next games.”
Anfield defender Andy Robertson (above) offered a humble apology to Liverpool fans for the manner in which their ‘Invincibles’ dream evaporated, saying: “It’s up to us to show that this defeat hurts and put a run together that will crown us champions. It’s a performance that has not been expected for a number of years by the fans and we can only apologise. It’s up to us to bounce back.”