INVINCIBLES NO MORE
Watford end Liverpool’s unbeaten run in Vicarage Road stunner
SOONER or later, everything changes. Everything comes to an end. Garbo talks. And Liverpool lose.
We knew it would happen some time but of all the places in all of England, no one expected it to happen at Vicarage Road on a bitter evening in February against a Watford team fighting for its life. Disbelief lingered in the cold night air.
The defeat will only be cosmetic. It will not stop Liverpool winning their first league title for 30 years. But it felt like a seismic shock nonetheless.
They had, after all, only dropped two points in 27 matches before this encounter. It had begun to seem likely that they would gild their title triumph by going the whole season unbeaten, but two goals from Ismaila Sarr and another from Troy Deeney put paid to that tilt at history.
Nigel Pearson’s team handed Liverpool their first League defeat since their loss to Manchester City on January 3, 2019. It means that their lead over City at the top of the table remains at a mere 22 points.
This was a blow to their pride but it probably only means they will clinch the league in early April rather than late March.
But they will not emulate Arsenal’s Invincibles, nor will they surpass that team’s record of 49 league games unbeaten. Liverpool’s own unbeaten run ended here on 44.
Virgil van Dijk said afterwards: ‘It’s not acceptable that we lose 3-0 in that way. Losing hurts.
‘The record (matching Arsenal’s Invincibles) is for the media and people to talk about it — we didn’t mention it once.
‘We want to win the next game and strike back. That’s the only way forward.
‘If you look at the whole season, we have been good defensively, with the most clean sheets in the league.
‘We didn’t create many big opportunities. We shouldn’t take credit away from Watford. We have to look at ourselves. We have to improve again but it’s a tough one to take.’
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp did not mince his words after his side’s winning run was halted in unexpected fashion.
‘We were not good enough, simple as that,’ he said. ‘Watford did exactly what they wanted to do. We didn’t do exactly what we should have done.’
Watford thoroughly deserved their win, which moved them out of the relegation zone on goal difference. They were better than Liverpool in every department.
The home side lost Gerard Deulofeu before the break to a sickening injury as he caught his right foot in the turf. He was carried off on a stretcher, clutching an oxygen mask to his face.
But they blew away the league leaders in the second half with a performance of poise and purpose.
Watford went ahead when Abdoulaye Doucoure volleyed the ball across the face of goal for Sarr to prod over the line.
Sarr swiftly doubled the lead, racing clear and lifting the ball over the onrushing Alisson.
The hosts then scored a shock third when Trent Alexander-Arnold underhit a backpass to Alisson. Sarr intercepted and laid the ball back for Deeney to sidefoot home.
‘This was our best performance by a country mile,’ said skipper Deeney. ‘No one give us a prayer or a hope for this one. Every single man was quality today.
‘We’re realists. We know we’re not technically as good as them. We know what position we’re in and we’re fighting for everything.’