Thrills, but Klopp given more spills
JURGEN KLOPP shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled. He then turned to his No 2 and raised an eyebrow. Liverpool’s manager, as is his way, had been a picture of animation, all waving arms and piercing dog whistles, but this muted response was telling. To this point, his side’s return to the Champions League had been thrilling but, again, an old failing returned to blight their efforts.
They should have been out of sight. They had carved out enough chances to win two matches — even when you take away Roberto Firmino’s missed penalty before the break. But in the 72nd minute, his midfielders dallied, his defenders dithered and Joaquin Correa did the rest, his goal securing Sevilla a draw.
Klopp’s rueful grin, then, could not have been more appropriate. Until he can find a remedy for the times when Liverpool falter at the back, they will not make the steps he envisages.
To put a sad footnote on the night, Joe Gomez was sent off for two bookable offences.
‘We could have taken the three points with the chances we created in both halves but they got us on the counter attack,’ reflected Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson. ‘We are disappointed not to take the points but the lads reacted well to the weekend (5-0 loss to Man City). ‘We looked exciting and could have scored a few more goals. ‘We wanted to win the ball back quickly and get the crowd behind us. The lads reacted brilliantly to going behind and there are positives from the game.’ The naivety and passiveness shown in the battering from City were evident in the early moments when Sevilla mounted their first meaningful attack. Emre Can hesitated going for a tackle on the edge of his area and Sevilla quickly, moved the ball out to the left, with Correa inviting Sergio Escudero to scurry behind Gomez and cross. Dejan Lovren should have cleared but failed miserably and Wissam Ben Yedder finished from four yards.
To their credit, though, the Anfield men made it their business not just to get back on level terms but to try to put the game out of sight before half-time.
Such was the momentum Liverpool started to build, it became inevitable their pressure would crack Sevilla’s resistance and, after Firmino and Sadio Mane had gone close, the Brazil striker had a task as simple as Ben Yedder’s to restore parity.
It seemed as if the chance had gone when Henderson failed to take on a shot but his hesitation had reason.
He exchanged passes with Alberto Moreno, who raced into the box and fizzed a ball for Firmino to instinctively side-foot past Sergio Rico.
Can should have scored after one breakneck counter-attack but he dragged a shot wide as Anfield reached fever pitch.
No matter. Soon the lead arrived, Mohamed Salah’s shot from 25 yards taking a huge deflection off Simon Kjaer after the Egyptian mugged Steven N’Zonzi.
Two should have been three before half-time after Nicolas Pareja wrestled Mane to the floor but Firmino hit the post with the resultant penalty.
Somehow, Sevilla summoned a second-half response and Correa took a pin to the occasion, his goal deflating the massed Red ranks. Not even the late appearance of Philippe Coutinho could change the tone.