Liverpool show their mettle to produce memorable Anfield turnaround against Luton
With 55 minutes on the clock and Luton leading 1-0, it looked like one of those nights. A tale of frustration with several first-teamers out injured, while those that remained on the pitch, struggled to find any kind of cutting edge in the final third.
It was all set up for a potentially fatal mishap in a fiercely competitive Premier League title race. That was until the match flipped on its head in a raucous couple of minutes.
The momentum had been building since the half-time restart, and after 10 minutes of unrelenting one-way traffic, it all came to a crescendo when Virgil van Dijk stooped to head home from Alexis Mac Allister’s corner. A captain’s contribution in the nick of time.
Luton had scarcely had time to collect their thoughts and regain some semblance of composure before Liverpool were ahead.
Mac Allister was again the creator, and this time Van Dijk’s compatriot, Cody Gakpo - guilty of some wasteful finishing in the first half - powered a close-range header into the roof of the net.
Further goals from Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott sealed a crucial three points for Jurgen Klopp’s side as they look to give the German boss a fitting farewell ahead of his departure in the summer.
Frenzied atmosphere
Anfield had turned into a frenzy by the hour mark. ‘Allez Allez Allez’ bellowed around all four corners of the stadium, while the likes of Conor Bradley and Elliott defied their tender age with assured displays amidst the fervent home support.
The atmosphere - often criticised for being too quiet in home matches against the lower-ranked Premier League sides - was right up there with some of Anfield’s most iconic European nights.
Think Olympiacos and Chelsea in 2005, Borussia Dortmund in 2016 and Barcelona in 2019. For a 20-minute period at the start of the second half, it was the perfect amalgamation of noise, gnarl and limbs that will live long in the memory.
Rob Edwards echoed a similar sentiment in his post-match interview, admitting the atmosphere “suffocated” his players in the second period.
"We just made them angry I think didn't we?" Edwards remarked.
"Second half, I think we just saw Anfield, saw Liverpool, saw that full-throttle football. Their counter-pressing was incredible, suffocated us.
“It was like the Kop was just sucking it in and we couldn't really get out. We saw Anfield and Liverpool at its best, I thought they were brilliant.”
Never-say-die attitude
Liverpool have now picked up a remarkable 22 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season - their joint-most in a single campaign.
Even without the firepower of potent trio Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez, Klopp’s charges demonstrated their powers of recovery once again to bounce back from an early setback.
The term ‘mentality monsters’ was often used to describe Klopp’s first great team at Liverpool as they won the Champions League and Premier League between 2019 and 2020.
However, the never-say-die attitude has arguably never been as strong as it is now. Irrespective of who lines up on the pitch, the resilience and ability to overcome adversity are plain for all to see.
Liverpool supporters will be hoping for an easier ride over the coming weeks with a Carabao Cup final against Chelsea this weekend and a crunch league game against Manchester City on March 10th.
It remains to be seen whether Salah and Nunez will be available in Sunday’s showpiece against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
However, with those two as well as Dominik Szoboszlai and Trent Alexander-Arnold all close to a return, Liverpool will take some stopping as they continue to challenge on all four fronts.
There’s a long way to go with Manchester City and Arsenal sure to provide plenty of resistance on the domestic front, while Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta and Brighton all remain potential opponents in the latter stages of the Europa League.
But with momentum building and Anfield back to its ferocious best, you sense something very special could be brewing on the red side of Merseyside.