It was a Champions League group game of two halves in Seville, Liverpool bossing the first half going three goals up thanks to Roberto Firmino's double either side of Sadio Mané's header, but vanishing after the break letting the home side grab three goals and a point back, with Wissam Ben Yedder netting twice and Guido Pizarro equalising in the dying moments.
The Reds couldn't have asked for a better start, finding the breakthrough not even two minutes into the game, silencing the stunning Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where no visitors have won for over a year.
88 seconds gone, unmarked Firmino swept in Georginio Wijnaldum's flick-on off Philippe Coutinho's corner, LFC's second fastest goal in the competition.
Mané doubled the lead 20 minutes later, Firmino the provider this time off another Coutinho corner, the Senegalese striker powering home his first goal for the Reds since 27 August to make it 0-2.
Sevilla had a couple of chances, cup keeper Loris Karius did well denying Nolito before Ben Yedder put an easy chance wide.
Whatever both bosses said at the break, it completely reversed the game.
Los Rojiblancos came out running all over Liverpool, holding their opponents back completely, pushing, pressing and were soon rewarded for it. The team was back. The fans were back.
Six minutes into the second half, Ben Yedder pulled one back for the home side, Alberto Moreno conceding a free kick which Éver Banega whipped in for the French striker to glance home. And it got much worse for the former Sevilla defender.
Just under an hour gone, the Spaniard conceded a very soft penalty, which had to be retaken to add to the drama, but eventually gave Ben Yedder the double and reduced the hosts' deficit to just one goal.
Jürgen Klopp tried to resuscitate the visitors with a double change, James Milner and Emre Can replacing Moreno and Coutinho respectively, and a bit more organisation did return, but no control.
Defenders Ragnar Klavan and Joe Gomez did well under the circumstances, but the main culprit Moreno had already done the damage and was rightly taken off. Just. Not. Good. Enough.
Sevilla totally made the most of Liverpool's weaknesses, just like happened vice versa in the first half. And it could have been much worse.
Substitute Franco Vazquez fired straight at Karius before Sergio Escudero's smacker hit the underside of the bar before rebounding to safety after the Reds keeper got his hand to it.
But in the dying seconds Pizarro netted the equaliser and banked the point for Eduardo Berizzo's side, unmarked in the centre of the box off a corner.
So, the best and worst from both sides, three goals and a point each, a fair result in the end which keeps the Reds top of the group and Sevilla second, a point separating them with one final group game to go.
37-18 attempts between the two sides in the two games, Liverpool recording more than double as many shots as Sevilla but scoring and conceding the same (5-5).
The Reds have scored as many goals in the last three Champions League games (13) as they have in the previous 14 combined.
Klopp said he doesn't doubt his side's mentality, calling what happened a misjudgement.
It's a bit more than a misjudgement to throw away a three-goal lead! And the contrast between the two halves was just too shocking to overlook.
Yes, a point at Sevilla is good, but the way the Reds dropped the two points was just shambolic!
Klopp cannot ignore that! Especially with Chelsea next on the fixture list, the German boss will have to fix the problem and fix it quickly, mental or not mental, otherwise they'll be in for another thrashing like against Tottenham!
Sevilla Goals: Ben Yedder 51' & pen 60' & Pizarro 90'+3.
Liverpool Goals: Firmino 2' & 30' & Mané 22'.
Sevilla Team: 1 Sergio Rico; 18 Escudero (c), 5 Lenglet, 12 Geis, 25 Mercado (booked 54'); 14 Pizarro, 10 Banega (booked 45'), 15 N'Zonzi (22 Vazquez 45'); 24 Nolito (20 Muriel 73'), 9 Ben Yedder (11 Correa 81'), 17 Sarabia. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 2 Corchia, 7 Krohn-Dehli, 13 Soria, 16 Navas.
Liverpool Team: 1 Karius; 18 Moreno (booked 38') (7 Milner 63'), 17 Klavan, 6 Lovren, 12 Gomez; 10 Coutinho (23 Can 63' (booked 82')), 14 Henderson (c) (booked 68'), 5 Wijnaldum; 19 Mané, 9 Firmino, 11 Salah (21 Oxlade-Chamberlain). 4-3-3
Subs not used: 15 Sturridge, 22 Mignolet, 29 Solanke, 66 Alexander-Arnold.
FT Stats: SFC 3-3 LFC
Possession: 70%-30%
Shots: 11-13
On target: 6-7
Corners: 6-7
Fouls: 10-19
Bookings: 2-3
Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (GER)
Man Of The Match: Roberto Firmino
Ground: Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan
Attendance: 39,495
Click here for my previous LFC match report.
All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match report, Twitter and beIN Sport match coverage.
No comments:
Post a Comment