Liverpool fails to drive home ‘big chances’
LONDON: Champion Liverpool ended 2020 where it began it — on top of the English Premier League table — but was left to rue missed chances as it dropped points for the second successive match with a 00 draw at Newcastle yesterday.
Mohamed Salah missed two golden chances, while keeper Karl Darlow made some top saves as a battling Newcastle side hung on for a point.
The result meant Liverpool went into 2021 three points clear of Manchester United, having played a game more.
‘‘We had big chances,’’ Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said.
‘‘You might not think I have to tip my hat to my team, but I like the performance — it was really good. Can we play better football? Yes, but in this game we did more than enough to win it.
‘‘I think we had four 100% chances. We have won against Newcastle before with fewer chances. Tonight we didn’t but we accept that.’’
Newcastle manager Steve Bruce was delighted with his side’s performance.
‘‘The goalkeeper has produced some great saves, but the spirit and attitude [were great] and we created a few chances ourselves,’’ he said.
Klopp said being top of the table at the end of the year meant little with so much work still to be done.
‘‘The last thing I’m thinking about is our position in the table at the moment,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s nice but it doesn’t mean anything. We drew tonight and we are still top of the table, so that just shows how difficult the season is for everybody.
‘‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. We have to keep going, next game, Southampton, Aston Villa, Man United. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but it’s not the worst thing in the world — there are worse things happening.’’
Tottenham’s home match with Fulham on Thursday was postponed after some Covid19 cases in the visitors’ squad.
However, the Premier League is not discussing a possible pause to the season because of surging infections in England — an outbreak at Manchester City caused its game at Everton on Tuesday to be called off.
Several managers, including West Brom’s Sam Allardyce, have suggested a pause would take the pressure off clubs, but the Premier League says it has no plans to do so.
‘‘The Premier League has not discussed pausing the season,’’ it said in a statement.
‘‘The league continues to have confidence in its Covid19 protocols to enable fixtures to be played as scheduled, and these protocols continue to have the full backing of Government.’’ — DPA