Sheff Utd 0 Liverpool 2
After sacking manager Paul Heckingbottom, it seems Chris Wilder has become the Frank Lampard of Sheffield. Any time something goes wrong, he sits in a corner of the offices in a box with a sign above stating ‘in emergency break glass’.
His first challenge came in the form of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool who travelled to Bramall Lane for a midweek encounter. The Reds were looking to keep the pressure up on Arsenal at the top of the table as they went into the game in second place.
The visitors started on the front foot, forcing an early corner. As Sheff Utd headed the ball clear it dropped to Joe Gomez towards the halfway line. True to form, the defender seemed to forget how legs work and got dispossessed of the ball easily.
It set The Blades off on a quick counter-attack with Archer striding forward before laying it into the path of McAtee. He looked to finish the move off but his shot was stopped by a one-handed save from Kelleher.
Credit: @LFC
Liverpool fans will have been pleased to see their second choice keeper get off to a good start as against Fulham on the weekend, he seemed as though his whole body was made of poppadoms. Every shot The Cottagers had went straight through him.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were passing the ball around well, creating space and making the hosts chase down the ball constantly. Alexander-Arnold played a neat one-two and as he looked to thread it through, it was deflected behind for a corner.
The right back swung in the cross for Virgil van Dijk to sweep the ball into the back of the net to give the visitors the lead. VAR checked the goal after Sheff Utd protested and claimed a foul but the review decided there was no case.
Chris Wilder’s side struggled with the attacking threat of Alexander-Arnold all evening and he won his side another corner as he got to the byline and looked to cut it back into the box. His cross found Salah whose volley looked destined for the net but for an excellent save from Foderingham.
He denied Mohamed Salah his 200th goal for Liverpool but somehow, I don’t think we will have to wait too long to see the ‘Egyptian King’ reach that target. Since his signing from Fiorentina, the winger has turned into a goal machine for The Reds.
McAtee put in a stellar performance for Sheff Utd and he threaded a ball through to Archer but the striker waited for the pass to get to him, allowing Liverpool to get numbers back and crowd him out, snuffing out the opportunity.
Credit: @premierleague
Alexander-Arnold then spotted the run of Nunez and slotted him in but the Uruguayan’s shot was well blocked by Foderingham. Elliott clipped it to the back post, where Gomez was unmarked, but the defender blazed his effort over the bar.
The Blades tried to pile the pressure on in the dying moments of the game and as McAtee broke into the box, he went to ground, appealing for a penalty. VAR checked it, despite telling the referee to hold up play, but decided it was not a spot-kick.
Replays showed that Konate did push the Sheff Utd player but if we are to start giving penalties for this, we would be seeing four or five of them in every game. It was a risky challenge by the French centre-back but he had got away with it.
Nunez then came charging through but was dispossessed by Bogle. As The Blades’ player ran clear the Liverpool forward slid in to tackle him and win the ball back. He spotted Szoboszlai unmarked and the Hungarian took one touch before smashing his effort into the top corner.
Again the hosts were livid, claiming Bogle was fouled but VAR decided there was nothing doing. It was a contentious decision, depending on your allegiance, it would dictate your view on the challenge.
While Chris Wilder felt his side were hard done by, it was a solid win for the visitors as they cemented their position in the Premier League table. The Sheff Utd manager will have his work cut out if he is to keep his side in the top flight this season.
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