Goalkeeper Alisson scores to keep Liverpool’s top four fate alive
Goalkeeper Alisson scored an incredible injury-time winner as Liverpool claimed a significant victory in their quest to achieve a Premier League top-four finish by coming from behind to beat West Brom.
With three points a must and just seconds left of a game in which the visitors had been frustrated by an obstinate and disciplined Baggies, the Brazilian keeper came up for a corner.
It was surely the Reds’ final chance to snatch the win and so it proved as Alisson rose to glance Trent Alexander-Arnold’s delivery into the far corner of the net to send the away side into delirium.
In an example of extraordinary timing, it is the first occasion in which a goalkeeper has scored a competitive goal for Liverpool in their entire history, dating back to 1892.
The stunning moment takes the Reds just a point and a place behind Chelsea in fourth and three points worse off than third-placed Leicester with two games to go.
That the Blues and Foxes face each other in their next league game gives Jurgen Klopp’s side a huge opportunity to take control of their own destiny in the race for Champions League qualification when they travel to Burnley on Wednesday.
Things had got off to a terrible start for the reigning champions at the Hawthorns with Hal Robson-Kanu capping his first Premier League start since December 2017 with a neat side-foot finish to give West Brom the lead.
A typically incisive Mohamed Salah finish brought the visitors level, with the Egyptian’s low shot inside the far post taking him to 22 goals for the season, level with Harry Kane at the top of the scoring charts.
With Roberto Firmino firing against the woodwork, Sadio Mane seeing a finish ruled out for offside and others profligate in front of goal, it looked as though the Reds had blown their chance.
But Alisson’s big moment keeps them firmly in the hunt.
“I just tried to run into a good place and be there to try and help my players, to bring a defender, but no one followed me and I am lucky and blessed, sometimes things you can’t explain,” Alisson told Sky Sports.
“You can’t explain a lot of things in my life, the only reason is God and he put his hand on my head today and I’m feeling very blessed.”
He also paid an emotional tribute to his late father, who drowned, aged 57, in February.
“I’m too emotional, this last month for everything that has happened with me and my family, but football is my life, I played since I can remember with my father,” he added.
“I hope he was here to see it, I’m sure he is celebrating with God at his side.”
Reds boss Klopp said: “It’s an unbelievable header, I’ve never seen anything like that, good technique. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing.
“We are really close and know exactly what it means to him, it’s outstanding, really touching. It’s only football but it means the world to us.”