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Football.ua together with the project partner Carlsberg summarizes the results of the match of the 15th day of the Premier League, in which the “red” lost control of the situation in the last ten minutes.
December 27, 2020, 8:42 PM
As part of the fifteenth round of the English Premier League, the reigning champion of this competition faced one of the main outsiders of the current table: West Bromwich. Little by little, the teams entered the modality of the so-called “boxing day”, so the tight schedule will not give them a reason to relax between the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Liverpool were puzzled prior to the reported fight by a pleasant headache in the form of the issue of maintaining the leading position at the end of the calendar year. In this context, the match against the penultimate team of the championship, which has only signs of exiting the relegation zone in the near future, is a true gift from Destiny. In addition, the “red” from a week earlier went through another representative from the lower half of the tournament table: Crystal Palace (7: 0).
The impression of the guests at this match in the first minutes was depressing. Sam Allardyce’s team did not even attempt to show aggression, they simply dropped into two rows of defense according to the 6 – 4 scheme near their own penalty area, expecting a massive assault from the opponents. But Liverpool turned out to be more cunning, and instead of exploding chaotically down the flanks, they decided to stretch their opponents’ defense across the width of the pitch.
It turned out that the reserve of elasticity in the construction of “candidiasis” was only sufficient for 12 minutes. In midfield, Liverpool’s “last three” players were calmly rolling the ball until Matip saw clearance for Mane in the center of someone else’s penalty area. An instant shot, a fresh chest movement from the Senegalese and an accurate shot in the lower left corner, a pragmatic culmination of the team’s efforts in the opening minutes.
This episode did not affect the guests in any way. Allardyce’s team simply forgot about attacking actions, so they carried the ball anywhere at the first convenient opportunity. Liverpool could have punished their rivals for so much lack of initiative, but, again, go try again to overcome these echelons of defense. Several dangerous shots, which the defenders managed to tackle in the last moment before the final blow, did not enter the overall statistics.
However, already in the second half, a completely different game was that of the “blackbirds”! West Brom seems to have remembered that there are other components to soccer besides action on defense. Of course, no one was in a rush to open up, but with the counterattacks, the situation improved quickly enough. The “reds” did not offer a sufficient level of aggression directly, after which they were not the ones who governed the ball on the soccer field, even if they continued to own the ball most of the time.
In the 71st minute, Brom seriously jabbed his opponent for the first time in the game with the help of a single accurate pass 60 meters ahead of Saviers, which was completed with a shot from the left wing of Grant’s penalty area, but Alisson saved his own goal. But after 10 minutes even the Brazilian had to capitulate. The rebound of the ball from the crossbar was too unexpected for him, after a blow to the head by Ajaya, who completed Pereira’s serve from the right wing.
And that’s it, since there was no advantage on the scoreboard, and after all, Klopp not only broke his voice in the technical area. Liverpool’s mentor knew that playing with “Big Sam” was extremely dangerous. But even with so much confusion, the ‘red’ should have avoided defeat, but the magnificent Johnston saved the door from a near point-blank header from Firmino a minute before the end of regulation time. For the hosts, a point earned is a trifle, but for the “blackbirds,” the second guest scalp of the clear favorite this season.
In the next round, which will be the last of the outgoing year, Liverpool will play Newcastle as a visitor and West Brom will have to host Leeds United.
Liverpool – West Bromwich 1: 1
Goals: Mane, 12 – Ajayi, 81
Liverpool: Alisson – Alexander-Arnold, Matip (R. Williams, 60), Fabinho, Robertson – Jones (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 83), Henderson, Veynaldum – Salah, Firmino (Origi, 90), Manet.
West Bromwich: Johnston – Furlong, Ajayi, O’Shea, Gibbs – Saviers – Phillips, Robinson (Pereira, 73), Gallagher (Ivanovich, 90 + 1), Diangana – Grant (Austin, 79).
Warning: O’Shea
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