Andy’s the head man – but Reds fail to impress
A quite brilliant header from Scotland skipper Andy Robertson was not enough to prevent the champions stuttering in their bid to break Manchester City’s record of 100 points in one season.
Up against a resilient opponent, whose keeper Nick Pope was manof-the-match, they failed to win at home for the first time in the 201920 league campaign.
The single point they took lifted them up to 93 points from their 35 games.
That means they will need to be perfect from their remaining three fixtures: Arsenal away, Chelsea at home and Newcastle at St James Park, to set a new Premier points high. Two wins and a draw would see them equal it.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were up for this right from the off.
However, it took a piece of exceptional individual skill from Robertson to break down the Burnley resistance and, in particular, the inspired Pope.
Involved earlier in the attack, Robertson watched as the ball was worked to Fabinho then started to ghost towards the opposition box.
The Brazilian spotted his move and sent over an inviting cross for his teammate to attack.
Even he, though, must have been surprised by what happened next with Robertson fairly powering a header back, across the goal, and beyond the keeper at his far post. BT pundit Peter Crouch, a man who scored more than own share of spectacular headers in his career, was certainly impressed, lauding it as “one of the best goals I have ever seen.”
Rob Green, the former England goalkeeper, was likewise impressed.
“It was going to take something special to beat Nick Pope and it’s an incredible header! What a ball in, his run is great and the angled header is brilliant. What a goal!”
It was Robertson’s first goal since November – another header – against Aston Villa, and only his second of Liverpool’s 2019-20 Premier League campaign.
However, the statistics which showed that in the previous 36 games in which the Anfield men had taken the lead they had gone on to win, were to prove misleading.
Burnley weathered the storm and got back on level terms with a fine equaliser.
Jay Rodriguez, who had grafted hard for his side, fired low into the corner of the net when the ball fell into his path just inside the area.
It was not their first impressive attack either. Robertson had earlier had Joe Gomez to thank for getting in the way of Dwight Mcneil’s shot when the winger looked set to score after a piece of sloppy defending on his part.
To be fair, it was a rare aberration on his part with his raids down the left flank very impressive.
One, in which he blazed past Erik Pieters and fired over a low cross would surely have resulted in a goal had Roberto Firmino committed to his run.
The latter was left shaking his head in disbelief too, after his excellent drive rebounded off the base of the post.
Again, Burnley fans could argue similar misfortune with their second half substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson blasting a shot against the crossbar.
Liverpool supporters for their part, will expect better from the clash with the Gunners in north London on Wednesday, a game which will provide Robertson a reunion with Kieran Tierney, his fellow Scot and rival for his international jersey.