A couple of weeks ago I posted this, conceding defeat to Leicester City in the race for the top four. There was, I reasoned, now way that they would lose both of their last two games and see Liverpool win five straight.
Well, that’s not strictly true. My post was in fact entirely based on my belief that there was not a snowball in hell’s chance that Liverpool would win out. But win out they did. 2-0 over Southampton, 4-2 against Manchester United at Old Toilet, 3-0 at Burnley and 2-0 today against Crystal Palace.
And in the middle of that, 2-1 over West Brom. It was a game that Liverpool dominated (as usual), conceded a sloppy goal (as usual), were hauled back into the game by a Mo Salah goal (as usual), and missed a succession of chances (as usual). It was, in short, Liverpool’s season in microcosm. But as the game petered out, Liverpool won a corner. A late, late corner. The keeper came up, and the keeper headed home.
Alisson Becker, you absolutely beautiful man.
By this Liverpool gave themselves a fighting chance of making it into Europe. But it would not have been enough without a little help from our old friend, Brendan Rodgers, whose Leicester side threw away their commanding position with losses to Chelsea and Tottenham.
The latter defeat, 4-2, was a game that Leicester led twice before throwing it away, as Kasper Schmeichel’s punch into his own net after he misjudged a cross triggered a late collapse. And so they finished not only behind Liverpool, but also let Chelsea off the hook for their final day defeat at Aston Villa. Just awful stuff for the Foxes, who have now missed out on the Champions League on the final day for the second successive season.
Oh well, at least they have an FA Cup to console themselves with.
