Soccer

Liverpool’s Joël Matip rises high to see off Ajax and ease Anfield anxiety

Towering 89th-minute header gets Jürgen Klopp’s side back on track after Napoli defeat

Joël Matip heads home Liverpool's winner in the Champions League game against Ajax at Anfield. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images
Andy Hunter at Anfield
Tue Sept 13 2022 - 22:26

Liverpool 2 Ajax 1

Jürgen Klopp could hardly bear to look. Another night of Champions League torment beckoned for Liverpool when Joël Matip dispatched a towering 89th-minute header beyond Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer only for Dusan Tadic to head off the line. Or from behind the line, as a signal on the referee’s watch confirmed. Klopp was facing away from the pitch when the referee pointed to the centre circle, and pointed Liverpool’s campaign in a completely different direction.

It was late, scruffy and Liverpool still have plenty of room for improvement but this was a precious victory after the low of Napoli and with their season already at a crucial stage. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring before Mohammed Kudus struck a superb equaliser for Ajax. Liverpool were beginning to rue several missed opportunities when Matip finally converted from a Kostas Tsimikas corner.

After several days of hammering his players with the “absolute truth”, Klopp made four changes to the team responsible for what he labelled the worst display of his Liverpool reign at Napoli last week. One was enforced, Kostas Tsimikas replacing the injured Andy Robertson, and three were a direct response to the calamity in Italy with Joe Gomez, James Milner and Roberto Firmino dropped to the bench.

READ MORE

Diogo Jota was selected ahead of summer signing Darwin Núñez as Klopp looked for a more compact, counter-pressing unit to relaunch Liverpool’s Champions League campaign. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s inclusion made him the youngest player in Liverpool’s history to hit the milestone of 50 European appearances for the club, at 23 years and 341 days.

There was no Champions League anthem before kick-off and the traditional sound of You’ll Never Walk Alone was abandoned after only a few notes as Uefa and Liverpool commemorated the recent death of Queen Elizabeth. Anfield was asked to observe a period of silence for the late monarch and, in the main, it was respectfully observed. One shout of “Liverpool” and a couple of boos were met with immediate instructions to shut up from others in the crowd while the majority paid their respects in silence.

Klopp’s call for Liverpool to “reinvent” themselves post-Napoli did not lead to a radically different approach, although an improvement was noticeable and instant. The recalled, fit again Thiago Alcântara and Jota both had an early impact while Matip’s striding runs out of defence helped break the Ajax lines and put the Dutch champions under sustained early pressure. It paid off when the hosts claimed an early lead that should have eased some of the anxiety inside Anfield.

Luis Díaz, one of the few to escape criticism in Naples, won a towering header from an Alisson clearance and steered it into the path of Jota. Two Ajax defenders swarmed in on the Liverpool striker but he held them off with ease before releasing Mohamed Salah free inside the penalty area. After seven Champions League games without a goal, his longest drought in the competition, Salah could not have wished for a better opportunity to end the unwanted sequence and beat Pasveer with a convincing finish into the corner.

Every Liverpool player joined in the celebrations and it appeared the self-doubt of the past week had been released as they bombarded Pasveer’s goal in search of a second. Díaz dragged an excellent chance just wide after Virgil van Dijk had nodded a Tsimikas free-kick into his path near the penalty spot. Jota tested the Ajax goalkeeper from distance and then set up Salah again having been found in space on the left by the ever-alert Alisson. The goalscorer poked wide at the near post.

Liverpool’s work rate off the ball was also improved and Klopp roared in approval when Tsimikas, Díaz and Thiago pressed Ajax so successfully they were forced to play the ball from Dusan Tadic in attack back to Pasveer in goal. But just as Liverpool were enjoying their most dominant spell, they were prised open by Ajax’s speed and intelligence in a rare foray forward.

Trouble brewed from the moment the right back Devyne Rensch beat the Liverpool press with a precise pass through Díaz and Tsimikas. Edson Álvarez found Daley Blind hugging the opposite flank and the former Manchester United defender sent Steven Berghuis sprinting into space vacated by Alexander-Arnold.

Berghuis pulled a cross back between the legs of Matip towards Steven Bergwijn standing unmarked inside the Liverpool penalty area. Kudus, also unmarked, got to the ball first, spun away from Van Dijk and drove an unstoppable left-foot shot in off the underside of Alisson’s crossbar. It was clear why Ajax refused to sell Kudus to Everton in the recent transfer window after losing Antony to United.

Liverpool continued to create good openings but, whether from set-pieces or open play, a clinical touch proved elusive. Van Dijk and Matip both sent several inviting headers over the bar or straight at Pasveer while the Ajax goalkeeper saved well from Alexander-Arnold and Salah. The latter, after Fabinho’s lob had found Salah free inside the box, rebounded to Harvey Elliott but he could only hit the side-netting from a difficult angle.

The visitors carried a clear threat on the counter and should have taken the lead when Tadic picked out Blind with a measured cross to the back post. Blind had time and space to pick his spot only to place a header inches wide of the far post, prompting coach Alfred Schreuder to drop to his knees in anguish.

Núñez was given an ideal opportunity to seal victory late on when Salah squared to the striker inside the area, but the Uruguay international pulled his shot wide. But Matip would save Liverpool’s night. – Guardian