All last night’s footie action
Silva’s set for chop after Anfield mauling
LIVERPOOL 5 EVERTON 2
LIVERPOOL continued their relentless pursuit of the title – and almost certainly condemned Everton boss Marco Silva to the sack.
The Toffees manager looked a forlorn figure on the touchline at Anfield in an amazing game.
Sadio Mane was the sublime inspiration in an opening 45 minutes that produced the most goals in one half in Merseyside derby history. He started and finished what will surely be one of the goals of the season to put the Reds 4-1 ahead before the break and created two others.
Divock Origi showed his class with two brilliant goals, and Xherdan Shaqiri also scored on his first start of the season, with Gini Wijnaldum adding the fifth.
And all this came after Jurgen Klopp boldly left out Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson. Despite scoring twice in the first half, the defensive nightmare will haunt Silva – and hasten his path to the exit.
NO Mo Salah, no Roberto Firmino and no Jordan Henderson to start with. No problem.
Boss Jurgen Klopp’s choices were vindicated with wonderful goalscoring contributions from Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri in this tumultuous contest.
Just when you thought Klopp could not get any smarter, he comes up with this, heaping more pressure on Everton boss Marco Silva.
At first glance, it looked like he was taking the mickey, trolling the neighbours, taking a Merseyside derby lightly.
Maybe he thought this was the FA Cup fixture they have on their schedule. Maybe it was a disparaging nod to Everton’s record at Anfield and their current predicament.
But then, this. This masterpiece. A very flawed masterpiece but a masterpiece all the same.
The idea came from Klopp with a selection no-one predicted, the execution came from the beautiful brush strokes of Sadio Mane. Origi led the way with a double but it was Mane who painted his brilliance all across a chaotic canvas.
No wonder Lionel Messi, clearly as good a judge as a footballer, voted for Mane as FIFA’s World Player of the Year.
Centre-stage, Mane was simply unplayable. The social media stew over Klopp’s selection had barely simmered down before Mane had deliciously plated up goals for Origi and Shaqiri. The short pass that gave Origi the opportunity to cleverly go past a rash Jordan
Pickford – no surprise there – and score was sublime. And the same can be said of his assist for Shaqiri’s first-time finish, although credit must go to Trent AlexanderArnold’s earlier pinged crossfield ball.
Alexander-Arnold’s pass was typical of Liverpool’s full-back play – brilliant going forward, vulnerable when forced to retreat.
It was no surprise when Michael Keane clipped a reply past Adrian after Alex Iwobi had whipped in a pass from the right.
But who needs the defensive nonsense when you can – as Alexander-Arnold did – take a pass from Mane, dash 50 yards and then return the favour for the Senegalese striker to hit a first-time left-footed beauty into the bottom corner? When another defender, Dejan Lovren, hit one half the length of the field for Origi to expertly pull from waist height and lob his second, nothing less than humiliation beckoned for the Toffees.
But a half-hearted Lovren clearance was returned by Bernard and Richarlison’s shoulder turned in the sixth goal of a remarkable half of football.
After the break, both sides operated with more caution, which was hardly what Silva needed in his hour of need.
The writing is on the wall for Silva. Whatever can go wrong for him, seems to go wrong – not the best trait for a Premier League manager to have.
Had substitute Moise Kean not missed a sitter, Everton could have made a lively finale of things but ahead of that miss, Mane had squandered two glaring chances.
Not that his manager – especially as Gini Wijnaldum collected a late fifth – will hold that against him.
Klopp took a gamble and thanks to his almost-perfect No.10, it paid off.
No problem.