ONE IN THE EYE
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: PAGES 74-75
Liverpool hero Roberto Firmino (right) celebrates his last-gasp winner over PSG at Anfield after overcoming his weekend eye injury
For a man with just one eye, roberto Firmino certainly knew where the goal was. There was one minute of injury time gone when a player who might not have been on the pitch at all sized up the target and condemned Paris Saint-Germain to defeat.
What a finish, what a response. Firmino only came on with 20 minutes to go. There was a doubt he would play at all after a wayward finger from Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen necessitated a trip to hospital at the weekend.
As it was, Jurgen Klopp kept him on the bench until Daniel Sturridge had run his course. His impact was remarkable.
Liverpool looked to have blown the win when Mohamed Salah gave the ball away and PSG equalised. It was a reminder, if there was any need, of how hard it will be to tread a repeat path to this tournament’s final again.
An undeserved late equaliser was notice of the rarefied atmosphere. When loose play lets in a player of Neymar’s quality, and he can give the ball to Kylian Mbappe, goals often result. That is what occurred and Jurgen Klopp’s face told the story. He knew they should have been comfortable. He knows he had the better team.
Yet Firmino delivered what Liverpool deserved. He won the header from the corner, picked up the scraps after Virgil van Dijk had recycled the loose ball, striking it beautifully past Alphonse Areola. He celebrated with a hand over his eye. It probably won’t catch on.
Klopp said: ‘He had no chance yesterday. Absolutely no chance the day before. But this morning he came in and said I’m fine. I can open my eye again. It was good.’
Firmino’s commitment typified Liverpool’s approach and Scotland star Andy robertson, who set up Sturridge’s opener, was quick to pay his tribute.
He said: ‘We got our second wind in the last 10 minutes and the chances kept coming.
‘All the lads have done well, it was a real team effort. We are good at getting in people’s faces, especially at home to make it uncomfortable. If we all do that the fans get behind us and that is a tough atmosphere to play in.’
For most of the game, Liverpool had overshadowed the PSG of Neymar, Mbappe, edinson cavani and Angel di Maria. It is the intensity that sets Liverpool apart on european nights like these. The French club are not the first, and won’t be the last, to endure a passage of play when they just cannot be contained.
on this occasion it came half an hour in, when Liverpool scored twice in six minutes. PSG were rattled by the levels of energy and determination they faced.
Forget the goals for a minute. It was around this time Liverpool players began tackling each other in their determination to retrieve the ball, on two occasions a tackle sending a team-mate clattering to the floor.
The first time — Jordan Henderson cleaning out Joe Gomez as collateral damage in his desire to shut PSG down — Klopp turned to the crowd and punched the air in delight.
He did that quite a few times in the opening skirmishes, invariably in response to a crunching tackle.
Within the first 15 minutes Liverpool had won seven corners. They are terrifying in these spells and PSG deserve no little credit for living with them as long as they did. captain Thiago Silva was particularly good — a pity then it was his resistance that was broken at Liverpool’s opener.
It came after 30 minutes. An overhit cross from the right, collected by robertson on the left and whipped in first time to be met by Sturridge with a header that left Areola no chance.
Sturridge was only included because of Firmino’s eye injury. He does not bring as much to this team as Firmino — it is hard to imagine who would, given Klopp’s demands and the Brazilian’s fulfilment of them — but this was a beautiful goal. He celebrated in his trademark style: you may find it annoying — no one here did.
Momentarily, PSG lost their
way. They had worked so hard to resist, indeed looked almost to have ridden the early red wave, and now this. Just six minutes later they were two behind.
Juan Bernat tripped Georginio Wijnaldum in the penalty area. The space was congested, there was barely a way through, yet the foul was obvious and given right away by referee Cuneyt Cakir. James Milner, in front of the Kop, fired the penalty home low to the goalkeeper’s left.
That PSG went in at half-time only one down is testament to their powers of recovery as well as Liverpool’s propensity for selfharm. Bernat played the ball to di Maria and his cross struck Robertson, falling to Thomas Meunier to lash it past Alisson.
Salah’s close-range effort just before the hour was ruled out for a lunge on the goalkeeper by Sturridge, who moments later had a weak header easily saved.
Liverpool kept the intensity up but a loose pass from Salah undid all their work. Seven minutes from time the Egyptian’s pass was intercepted by Neymar, who gave it to Mbappe to fire past Alisson.
Trent Alexander-Arnold had a free-kick deflected behind as Liverpool tried to repair the damage, but that task was left to Firmino at the death.