Forget Fergie time. Liverpool leave it late again to strike in KLOPPAGE TIME!
WHILE Pep Guardiola was calling out Sadio Mane’s ‘diving’, Jurgen Klopp was so untroubled by Manchester City that he said he did not even know the result of their match against Southampton. (They won 2-1, Jurgen).
Nearly an hour after Liverpool had produced a thrilling late comeback to deny Aston Villa and maintain their six-point lead at the top of the league, Klopp was insisting he had had no thoughts of their principal rivals.
City, don’t forget, visit Anfield on Sunday. During those 90 minutes, and in the return game on April 4, the title will surely be decided.
Perhaps Klopp’s ignorance was simply kidology. It seems unlikely that, in the modern world, it would be possible for the German to have ‘no clue about any other Premier League result’, 45 minutes after most games had finished. But if you’re in Klopp’s shoes, why worry too much about City?
Why worry when you haven’t lost a game in the league since the 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium on January 3? Why worry if you can still win a tough fixture at Villa Park even with key men like Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk looking a little off-colour?
Liverpool supporters loathe to see their team compared with Manchester United, yet they may make an exception in this case. Just like the United sides who would turn looming defeats into draws or wins with goals in ‘Fergie Time’, Klopp’s team are also bending games to their will in the final minutes.
An 87th-minute equaliser away from home would be enough for many teams, who would be happy with their point. Not Liverpool, who used Andy Robertson’s far-post header as the launching pad for Mane’s 94th-minute winner.
‘It’s almost like a sixth sense,’ said Reds midfielder Adam Lallana. ‘Teams worry when it’s late. We keep getting late goals. Another two today and one in midweek (against Arsenal), then there was my equaliser at Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago. The resilience and character is just there in abundance.
‘We knew at half-time that if we got one goal it was going to count. We got it late but we still had time and with the deliveries and set-pieces we’ve got in our team we use it to our advantage. It’s such a weapon.’
Did the home crowd get tense? ‘That’s exactly what happens when you get late goals and the momentum is there. It didn’t surprise me we got the second goal.
‘We came back against Arsenal to win on penalties in the Carabao Cup last Wednesday and Anfield was electric again. Even though we weren’t at our best in the first half at Villa, what we’ve done recently gave us that ‘never say never’ feeling. Two more late goals — we’re on that path at the minute.’
The pattern should worry City. Against Leicester on October 5, James Milner’s injury-time penalty — awarded controversially for a foul on Mane — secured a 2-1 win.
Lallana struck in the 85th minute to rescue a 1-1 draw at Manchester United. In the 2-1 win over Tottenham, Salah scored from the spot 15 minutes from full time.
Arsenal thought they had a famous 5-4 win at Anfield last week, until Divock Origi equalised with seconds left to set up victory on penalties and a place in the quarter-finals. Four days later, Villa became the latest team to succumb to the irresistible force.
‘I never thought for a second about the Man City game and the Aston Villa game together,’ said Klopp. ‘I never thought: “Okay, you should win that, because (otherwise) maybe we lose next week and then we are on a level”.
‘I didn’t ask after the game about the other results in the league, it was not too important. We play Genk (in the Champions League) and then we play City.’
Liverpool are straight back in action tomorrow while Villa have a week to shake off this disappointment before trying to win a Midlands derby at Wolves on Sunday.
Dean Smith’s side are tricky to assess — so many capable players, so many impressive performances, yet they are only three points above the relegation zone.
Against Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool they led for long periods yet all three games ended in defeat. ‘Liverpool are relentless,’ said Villa midfielder John McGinn, one of his side’s best players this season.
‘They probably tired us out too much right at the end. It is the same with Manchester City. They just drain you mentally.’
After Wolves, Villa have a home game against Newcastle on November 25, before playing United, Chelsea and Leicester within eight days at the start of December.
Smith asked his players to be ‘proud of their performance’, but sooner or later Villa will have to learn how to get over the line in some of these games if they are to avoid a bitter winter.