Liverpool eventually got what they were looking for against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon as they overcame an organised Black Cats defence and an injury to one of their key men to secure a 2-0 victory.
The first half of the game suggested the Reds fans watching on would be frustrated as the relegation-threatened visitors, fresh from winning back-to-back games, took everything that was thrown at them in their stride.
Indeed, the contest really threatened to fizzle out after Philippe Coutinho suffered a pretty nasty-looking injury to his right ankle that has clearly unsettled some of his team-mates.
Nevertheless, it’s in adversity champions often define themselves and the Anfield side kept throwing punch after punch before finally breaking through the Black Cats’ rearguard.
Divock Origi, on for the injured Coutinho, scored the breakthrough to the delight of the home support as they eventually imposed themselves on the game.
More chances would follow, too, but it was not until James Milner’s penalty in injury time that the seal on the three points became apparent.
2-0 it finished, then, and here are five great images to help sum it all up…
Coutinho injured
The image that Reds fans didn’t want to see. The little Brazilian has been in top form this season, linking up to devastating effect with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino to help Liverpool score the most goals of any Premier League side. So seeing him stretchered off will have many fans predicting the club’s attacking potency could suffer a real blow. The extent of the injury remains to be discovered, but it didn’t look good from first impressions.
Milner seals it
It was an edgy affair at Anfield but Mr. Reliable’s penalty was enough to settle the crowd down and secure the win. The Reds were 1-0 up by the time they’d been awarded a penalty, but Milner still needed to hit the back of the net to allay any fears of a late Sunderland revival. Hit the back of the net he did, though, and amid the cheering Kopites you could hear a rather large collective sigh of relief. Job done at last.
Sunderland dejected
Sunderland were looking good for a draw as they put in a pretty solid display until Liverpool’s quality eventually told. The Black Cats should take heart from another good performance, though, and will feel that on another day they could have been leaving Anfield with at least a point. These games won’t define their season but if they can replicate these levels of application for the ones that will, they should be just fine in the battle against relegation.
Klopp on form
Klopp had to be at his orchestrating best to get a tune out of his players and the Anfield crowd. He was bouncing around the touch line, kicking every ball as he so often does, and eventually it was enough to get the result most of the 40-odd thousand packed inside the stadium wanted. He’s going to feel every single kick of this Premier League title run and we’re going to enjoy watching him do it.
Relief for Liverpool
Last season, this game would have ended up as a draw. Indeed, many times in the last few years, the Reds would not have found a way to win – so today’s victory speaks volumes of how far they’ve come this campaign. If you want to win the league you need grind results out sometimes, you can’t expect to batter teams each week. This was exactly that kind of game, with the shock of Coutinho’s injury not helping matters, but the three points were eventually secured to leave the club well in the title race.