Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BOBBY DAZZLER
MONTERREY 1LIVERPOOL2
JURGEN KLOPP clashed with Monterrey coach Antonio Mohamed as Liverpool booked their place in Saturday’s Club World Cup final.
Sub Roberto Firmino was Liverpool’s injury-time hero after Naby Keita’s opener had been cancelled out by Rogelio Funes Mori.
The Reds will now face Brazilian side Flamengo as they look to make history by winning the competition for the first time.
THIS Liverpool team just never gives up.
The great teams – the truly great ones, like Liverpool in the 1980s, Manchester United in the 90s, and now Jurgen Klopp’s current generation – have that wonderful knack of conjuring late goals.
The Reds were well below their best against Monterrey in the Khalifa Stadium last night but yet again they came out on top thanks to a late goal, this time from sub Roberto Firmino, to book a place in Saturday’s final against South American champions Flamengo.
Incredibly, Liverpool have never won the Club World Cup despite lifting the European Cup six times but now they have a wonderful chance to write their name into the history books. That was surely what drove them on because the Premier League pacesetters were a long way from their brilliant best.
But they kept going until the bitter end, just as they have done on numerous occasions this season, and once again they produced a winner out of nowhere.
It is not luck. It is more than that. It was Mo Salah’s tenacity and substitute Trent Alexander-arnold’s clever assist which set up the winner for Firmino, whose deft touch from close range killed off their opponents.
But that was a rare moment of cohesion in a scrappy, disappointing game with Liverpool complaining of roughhouse tactics from the Mexicans.
A front three of Salah, Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi never clicked and Klopp’s gamble of resting his big guns
did not pay off. With Virgil van Dijk ill, midfielder Jordan Henderson had to fill in at centre-half, James Milner played at right-back, and Adam Lallana occupied the midfield holding role. It just did not look like Liverpool. Make no mistake, they will need to be a lot better to see off Flamengo.
The Mexicans fought, scrapped and battled and their fans never stopped singing from the first minute to the last.
Liverpool fans were kept waiting outside the stadium before kick-off as they struggled to get in – a sickener for those who travelled 3,500 miles only to miss part of the match. They have wonderful facilities here, state-of-the-art training bases, yet they definitely have issues to iron out if the 2022 Qatar World Cup is to be truly memorable.
Sadly for those Liverpool fans waiting outside, they missed a lightning start from their side, with Salah looking particularly dangerous.
In the 12th minute the little Egyptian held off a defender and played a lovely pass to Naby Keita, who raced into the box and lifted the ball over the keeper.
Right then it looked like it would be an easy night for Liverpool. But they allowed Monterrey back into the game and the Mexicans were level within three minutes. Liverpool failed to clear their lines properly from a set-piece and, when Jesus Gallardo’s shot was saved by Anfield keeper Alisson, Rogelio Funes Mori was on hand to fire home the rebound.
Monterrey captain Dorlan
Pabon, a real handful down the right, forced two brilliant saves from Alisson, who once again showed how vital he is to Klopp’s team.
Klopp was yellow-carded on the touchline as he lost his temper with Monterrey boss Antonio Mohamed, who was screaming for Joe Gomez to be sent off for his rugby tackle on Funes Mori. But he escaped with just a booking.
Origi missed a huge chance as the clock was ticking down and eventually Klopp sent on big guns Firmino, Sadio Mane and Alexander-arnold.
A minute into injury time, Salah held the ball up and fed Alexander-arnold, who threaded a pass for Firmino to steer home.
Not a great show. But once again a late show.