CLINICAL CURTIS LIFTS THE GLOOM
Liverpool back on track after run of four defeats
JURGEN KLOPP had kept a lid on things for most of the night. There had been no squabbles with the fourth official, no histrionics on the touchline.
Even when Curtis Jones plundered Liverpool’s first goal, the German barely moved. Hands stuffed into his big, black bulky coat, there was barely a flicker of emotion. It’s not like Klopp to be this way, he loves football and lives for the moment his teams score.
Was this the full effect of a bleak mid-winter? Had those four successive defeats, the concession of their title and the seemingly endless injury issues finally zapped him? Not a bit of it. In the 64th minute, when it was clear Liverpool had game, set and match, normal service was resumed.
Roberto Firmino had delivered the decisive play, exchanging passes with Jones and then Sadio Mane before his shot was deflected past Aaron Ramsdale by Kean Bryan. The goal would be credited to the Sheffield United defender but Klopp did not care.
‘Yeeeesss!’ he bellowed, hoisting his arms aloft then shaking his fists. ‘Yeeeesss! Yes Bobby!’
Critics will say Liverpool should be beating Sheffield United regardless of circumstances but, in football, there is no place for guarantees. This fixture was loaded with difficulty for the champions.
But Liverpool had to win it. Those close to it all knew they could not return from Bramall Lane with anything other than three points and that is exactly what they did, professionally grinding out a win that would have been much more emphatic had it not been for the home team’s goalkeeper.
Sheffield are bottom and destined for the Championship but they did not make this easy for Liverpool. They harried and fought and they responded to all Chris Wilder’s urgings but, by the end, they had been wrestled into submission. How this was needed.
‘We have had good games but we have not scored as many goals as we’d like,’ said Jones. ‘This was all about putting it together. It was a good performance.’
It was. Klopp has never hidden from the fact that he has issues to solve but, equally, he has been adamant there have been moments when Liverpool have shown they are not far away from making positive things happen. The first half was a case in point.
Sheffield United had the first attempt, when David McGoldrick’s firm header was turned around the post by Adrian — replacing the compassionately rested Alisson Becker — but Liverpool created more openings in that 45 minutes than they had done in their last four home games.
Firmino should have lanced any tension in the tenth minute, when he went scurrying through, but he was thwarted by Ramsdale, who stood big and tall. The Brazilian turned and grimaced, knowing how big the opportunity was; the goalkeeper grew in confidence.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was the next to be denied. He had been presented with an opening after Ethan Ampadu’s skewed clearance but, after cutting inside and blasting a left-footed drive towards the top corner. Ramsdale was equal to it, repelling the shot with strong hands.
There would be more. When Nat Phillips won a towering header and Firmino adroitly cushioned the ball on to Mohamed Salah, your first thought was ‘goal’, particularly after the Egyptian had turned Phil Jagielka inside out. But Ramsdale was a one-man wall. He saved that one with his feet then pushed Gini Wijnaldum’s thumping drive away from danger.
Ramsdale also had luck with him as when Wijnaldum’s rebound ended up at the feet of Firmino, Liverpool’s No9 hesitated rather than electing to shoot. He had earned his half-time clean sheet.
Could he sustain it? The answer — ‘no’ — was provide within two minutes of the restart. Jones, a constant bright spark whose influence continues to increase, provided the thumping finish to a cutback from Alexander-Arnold that gave Liverpool lift-off.
VAR was needed to examine the situation and perhaps this explained Klopp’s reticence to celebrate. At first glance, it had seemed that Alexander-Arnold had overrun his dribble and failed to stop the ball going out of play but, once no fault could be found, Liverpool were not going to be stopped.
Sheffield had a couple of brief moments — the best was when Oli McBurnie flashed a header wide — but Liverpool were in control and the flourish was applied when Firmino’s dancing feet carried him through a posse of red-and-white shirts before his shot looped off Bryan beyond Ramsdale.
Now Klopp could relax. A switch had been flicked inside him and he spent the final 25 minutes imploring his players to give him more, including one rollicking for Firmino that led him to look over at the bench with a smile, such were the decibels involved.
By the end of it all, Klopp was sanguine. He will not get carried away by this nor will any of his players. It would be ridiculous to fall into the trap that one win has solved all Liverpool’s problems and set them up for a grandstand finish.
Achieving a top-four place is still a huge ask but, crucially, it not beyond them. Should Liverpool follow up against Chelsea and Fulham in the next six days, perhaps then they can start to think bigger. For now, though, three points will do. In the circumstances, that is enough. SHEFFIELD UNITED (3-5-2): Ramsdale 8; Ampadu 6, Jagielka 6 (Osborn 56), Bryan 6; Baldock 5, Lundstram 6, Norwood 6, Fleck 6 (Sharp 80), Stevens 6; McGoldrick 5 (Burke 56), McBurnie 5. Subs not used: Foderingham, Maguire, Ndiaye, Mousset, Lowe, Brewster. Booked: None. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Adrian 6; Alexander-Arnold 7, Phillips 7, Kabak 6, Robertson 7; Thiago 6 (Milner 76), Wijnaldum 6, Jones 8 (Keita 80); Salah 6, Firmino 6, Mane 6. Subs not used: Ojrzynski, N Williams, R Williams, Hughes, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri, Origi. Booked: None. Man of the match: Aaron Ramsdale. Referee: Jon Moss.