[ad_1]
Liverpool went into the Europa League quarter-final first leg against Atalanta unbeaten in 33 games at Anfield, but they were made to pay for their sloppiness.
There was no flag in the Kop and no wind in Liverpool’s sails. It was the night Jurgen Klopp’s farewell tour was hit by serious disruption.
It was the night a Premier League failure at Old Trafford was followed by a serious European defeat at Anfield. Klopp rested Mohamed Salah for 45 minutes and allowed his chosen players to rest themselves.
With about 15 minutes left in the game, Joe Gomez took a shot from 25 yards as many of his teammates waited to pass into the dangerous area. Klopp uttered a rant that only an angry Klopp could make. Moments later, Mario Pašić tapped in for Atalanta’s third goal, putting salt in the Liverpool manager’s gaping wound.
That pretty much summed up Liverpool’s night and Klopp looked almost relieved when Khalil Umut Mellor blew the final whistle. Merrell is the employee who was berated by the Turkish club president earlier this season. There was no chance that John W. Henry would get a shot on Mellor. Perhaps it’s because Henry is now unlikely to feature in the game at Anfield.
Should he make his next move, he is unlikely to receive a warm welcome from the Kop, who took down their flags in protest of next season’s ticket prices. Apart from the banners, Anfield lacked the atmosphere of a typical European night and perhaps that contributed to Liverpool’s poor start.
After a mistake from Harvey Elliott, Pašarić side-footed a goal into the face of Caoichhin Kelleher, and moments later Gianluca Scamacca also found the keeper with an easy shot into the net.
Liverpool weren’t wasting their early chances, with Darwin Nunez wasting a smart pass from Curtis Jones with a trademark mistake and Elliott managing to hit both the bar and the post with the same left-footed shot. But the truth is that Klopp’s side’s first half was completely uninspiring, marked by too many missed passes, and it wasn’t much of a shock when a tidy Italian side took the lead before the break. Ta.
Davide Zappacosta coasted into space behind a helpless Kostas Tsimikas, and Scamacca met his counterattack. The shot wasn’t exactly clean, but Kelleher helped it over the line.
And manager Gian Piero Gasperini headed to the dressing room unhappy as Teun Koopmeiners wasted a routine chance to double Atalanta’s lead in stoppage time. may have been holding. Gasperini knew Klopp could muster some cavalry, with Salah, Andy Robertson and Dominik Szoboszlai duly introduced in the second half.
All three games had a positive impact on Liverpool’s tempo, but Atalanta always posed a counter-attacking threat to a Liverpool defense that at times looked half-interested. Then, just after the hour mark, the unmanned Scamacca, who had scored eight goals in one season for West Ham, coolly scored his second goal from a cross from Charles de Ketelaère.
Please give us your opinion! What did you think of Liverpool’s performance? Please comment below.
Liverpool responded by applying half-hearted pressure, but Gomez’s cameo (followed by Atalanta’s third goal from Pašić) was typical of their incredible ignorance. Complacent, cocky, overconfident, take your pick – but one thing is for sure: this was the low point not only of Klopp’s long farewell but of the entire season.
Granted, there was no banner on the Kop…but this was definitely the Liverpool team flying the flag.
Join our new WhatsApp community Receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read this. Privacy Notice.
[ad_2]
Source link
