Liverpool welcomed 17th place Burnley to Anfield in their match on Sunday, as the two teams faced off against each other looking to take back all three points. Both teams wanted the win for totally different reasons. The Reds wanted to win to keep their title challenge going, while the visitors wanted to stay away from the “relegation zone”.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were the favourites to win this one, though The Clarets had caused some upsets in recent times. They once again got in the way of Liverpool’s hopes of a comfortable win, as they capitalized on an error by the hosts to score the first goal of the game.
It was Westwood who gave his side the lead in the 6th minute of the game from a corner that went in directly, though the joy did not last too long. 13 minutes later Firmino made it 1-1 to bring his team back into the game. Further, ten minutes later Mane made it 2-1, when Salah tried to take a shot in the box and the ball fell kindly to him. The first half ended with the home team leading 2-1.
There were no more goals in the half after the restart beyond the hour mark. The away side had slowly started building their presence in the match. However, in the 67th minute of the game, it was Heaton who gifted Salah the ball from a goal-kick and the resulting play gifted Firmino his second of the night.
Eventually Burnley pulled another one back at the start of the stoppage time towards the end of the game. It was substitute Gudmundsson who repaid his manager’s trust after coming on in the game, as he scored to make it 3-2. Despite that, it was too little too late, as Mane scored at the very end from a counter-attack with the opposition looking to push forward for an equalizer in the dying minutes of the game.
The game ended 4-2, with the Merseyside outfit once again within one point of Premier League champs Manchester City. Here are the talking points of the game-
Westwood’s Early Corner-kick Goal And The Wind
It was a special goal for any game, as Ashley Westwood took a corner from the right-hand side, with the away side pushing for a goal. The wind helped his case, as the midfielder’s set-piece landed directly into the back of the net and it gave his team the lead at Anfield, with Liverpool not knowing what exactly had happened.
Firmino’s Scores A Brace
Firmino’s equalizer was a well set up goal for the home side and it was needed to calm down some of the nerves that had shown at the start of the game. The Brazilian was not in the best of form and managed to get a chance to get on the score-sheet and took it with both hands. This was a positive boost for him and he would have been delighted with the fact that he was back to getting goals for the Kops.
Further, he also scored a second goal, which was Liverpool’s third to add to his tally and it was yet another brace for the attacker. This would have surely given him confidence prior to the return leg against Bayern Munich.
Mane’s Great Form Continues
Mane scored a brace to give his team all three points on the night, though he did miss a sitter too. The attacker scored the second goal of the game for his side giving them the lead and ended the match on a high note, with another goal to his name. This was yet again a top performance by him and the German manager will be hoping for more of the same in mid-week.
Heaton’s Gift
Just when the visitors were trying to get back into the game, it was the Burnley goal-keeper whose goal-kick went all wrong and it landed at the feet of Mo Salah, who quickly pounced on the opportunity. Though The Egyptian international could not finish off the chance himself, it resulted in Firmino’s second goal of the game giving the Reds the advantage yet again.
Gudmundsson Gives Reds A Scare
The substitute came off from the bench to give the home side a scare, as he made it 3-2 with few minutes left to play. The Clarets were going all-attack in the search for an equalizer and it eventually had to be Mane to kill off the tie and end all hopes for their rivals on the night. Had there been another goal from the visitors that point of time, the mood at Anfield would have been really sour.
Salah Plays His Part
Though in a game full of goals Salah failed to get onto the score-sheet, his contribution couldn’t be ignored. He was involved in the goals right from the very beginning and even claimed an assist for one. He did his part with regards to making on an off-the-ball runs and his link-up play was really good, with the Burnley defence struggling at times to keep up with his smart foot-work. Hopefully he can deliver once again when it matters against Bayern Munich.
