KLOPP ‘HAD TO SPARE KARIUS’
Middlesbro 0 Liverpool 3
LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp axed Loris Karius following recent blunders.
Simon Mignolet was recalled and he made a number of good saves.
Klopp revealed it was an “easy decision” to drop Karius and claimed he wanted to take the German out of the firing line because of his errors. “There was a lot of talk about the position,” said Klopp. I have Simon who is training at a high level.”
TO think Adam Lallana used to get hammered for his lack of goals.
Now the Liverpool playmaker can’t stop scoring and he tortured Middlesbrough at the Riverside last night, scoring twice to put the Reds back on track after their two-game wobble.
The England star has now netted nine times for club and country this season and, for good measure, he also laid on Liverpool’s other goal for Divock Origi.
Chuck in his six assists for the Merseysiders and he is a major reason why they are chasing Chelsea hard in this season’s title race.
Liverpool’s title hopes died on their last visit to the Riverside Stadium in February 2009 when Xabi Alonso scored an own goal.
But Lallana breathed new life into this season’s bid following Liverpool’s stumbles against West Ham and Bournemouth.
It was the perfect night for the Reds – Simon Mignolet even made a couple of decent stops in place of the axed Loris Karius to justifyy Jurgeng Klopp’spp big call.
And it eased the worries of Klopp, who has been hit by so many injuries that his bench looked like the cast of Bugsy Malone.
The German boss lost defensive linchpin Joel Matip to add to his selection problems. A glance at Liverpool’s bench underlined Klopp’s lack of options – he named teenagers Ovie Ejaria, Trent Alexander-Arnold and the club’s youngest scorer, Ben Woodburn, among his substitutes.
Liverpool settled into their passing rhythm and Boro’s red wall tried to keep p Liverpool’sp fluorescent yellow tide at bay.
Boro withstood early pressure to create a couple of openings, the first fashioned by Fabio.
The former Manchester United defender’s every toucht was booed by thet Liverpool fans and
he tried to silence them when he unleashed a shot which was comfortably dealt with by Mignolet.
Mignolet, playing his first league game in three months, made a better stop when he dived low to his left to save Ben Gibson’s back-post header from boyhood Liverpool fan Adam Forshaw’s free-kick.
Boro tried to frustrate Liverpool but the visitors opened them up when Sadio Mane fed Nathaniel Clyne on the right and he crossed for Lallana to head home in the 29th minute.
It was Lallana’s fifth Premier League goal of the campaign, meaning he has already bettered his tally from last season.
Mignolet blew away the cobwebs with those early stops and he made an even better save to keep out Viktor Fischer’s angled shot at his near post with his left hand.
Adama Traore was Boro’s main attacking outlet down the right and he skinned Jordan Henderson to cross for Forshaw to hit a shot which Lallana diverted behind.
Boro were leaving more space as they pushed forward and Mane was denied a second by the upright after being put through by Origi.
The rebound fell to Origi, who fired into the side-netting.
Lallana and Origi combined on the hour to double Liverpool’s lead. After a good move involving Henderson and Mane, the ball fell to Lallana and his pass was perfect for Origi to sweep into the net.
Liverpool couldn’t relax - in their last away game they were 2-0 up at Bournemouth and somehow contrived to come away emptyhanded.
So when Lallana slotted home the third, you could hear the sighs of relief on the Kop bench.
This time Origi was the architect, finding possession on the right in the 68th minute and crossing for in-form Lallana to apply the finish.
Lallana and Origi were Liverpool’s scorers in the 2-2 draw with West Ham at Anfield on Sunday so it’s clear they are sharing the goalscoring burden with Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho out injured.
Boro’s troubles continue and this loss makes it just two wins from their last 14 games.