The team of Liverpool”” presented an awesome performance
The faraway impetus of a comeback played out elsewhere, radiating out to Anfield,
and then the heady impression among the home crowd that the impossible was within
grasp, as intense as it had been for a brief period, vanished in the warm May afternoon.
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There was no mistaking the mood, the awe that it could happen, that the world’s attention
had suddenly shifted to this part of Merseyside, especially for those seven minutes when
Manchester City found themselves two goals down and the Premier League title could have
been Liverpool’s for a single goal. That was a chaotic period, with the Liverpool crowd
believing they were witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime event. Only one goal scored by a
team that had already scored 92 goals.
It was also a chaotic era, at least in comparison to Jurgen Klopp’s players’ customary levels
of control. With one of the greatest teams in history losing to Aston Villa and an incredible
opportunity to be taken, the stakes were so high and events must have felt so unreal.
Despite the fact that Liverpool managed to win this game, their 19th league match since the
beginning of the year – no defeats, this their 16th victory – the world had already turned
again.
Mohamed Salah celebrated with the kind of unbridled excitement that suggested he still
believed there was a possibility when he pushed the second Liverpool goal over the line with
six minutes left, the goal that would stake his dual claim to the league’s golden boot
this season. City’s 14-point advantage over Liverpool had been reduced down to one, but
the clock had stopped, the pursuit had ended, and the Premier League trophy, which had
been carried to Anfield just in case, remained in its box.
Mane levelled after Thiago flicked a long ball forward from Konate with the instep of his
right boot to adjust the angle and allow his team-mate to race through and grasp the
opportunity. Salah’s goal scuffed across the line as Wolves desperately defended a
corner, and Andy Robertson’s goal came from Roberto Firmino’s cut-back. However, at that
time, everything had changed. They had waited so long for the breakthrough that it didn’t
matter when it finally arrived. To finish in second place, you need a total of 92 points: the
title was there for a little moment and then it was gone.
