Leeds won their first game in nine Premier League games with a thrilling 2-1 victory at Liverpool thanks to a late goal from Crysensio Summerville, relieving manager Jesse Marsch of some of the strain.
In a frantic first half, the visitors took the lead in the fourth minute when Rodrigo capitalized on a mistake by Joe Gomez and Alisson Becker. Mohamed Salah’s goal in the 14th minute equalized the score.
Soon after, Leeds came close to retaking the lead with a shot that hit the bar. They appeared to be heading for a draw as Illan Meslier made several outstanding stops in the second half.
Summerville struck past Alisson in the 89th minute to give the Yorkshire outfit their first win at Liverpool since 2001, ending a four-match losing streak.
It was Liverpool’s second consecutive shocking league loss following the 1-0 setback at Nottingham Forest. They failed to build on Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League success against Ajax. This was their first league home loss since March 2021.
Crysencio Summerville the match winner ?#LIVLEE pic.twitter.com/uD7BqglHQk
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 29, 2022
Liverpool pays the price after yet another subpar performance
This is rapidly becoming a forgettable season for Liverpool in the Premier League as yet another sluggish game start proved costly.
The Reds have given up the opening goal in eight of their first 12 Premier League games. While occasionally, they have been able to come back and recover from the situation. All too frequently, it leaves them with too much work to do to bounce back and clinch the victory.
Playing on the flank, Gomez attempted a risky pass back to Alisson but sold his goalkeeper short, allowing Rodrigo to slip in and score the game’s opening goal.
Despite coming back to tie the game, they were rarely able to match the intensity of their opponents, with passes in the last third frequently going astray.
Aiming to finish in the top four has replaced hopes of competing for the title. Still, even that job appears challenging until Liverpool finds a way to improve their subpar beginnings in most games.
For the first time in his @LFC career, Virgil van Dijk was on the losing side in a #PL home match#LIVLEE pic.twitter.com/eejy6mxxhy
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 29, 2022
Klopp: We cannot qualify for Champions League on current form
To salvage a top-four finish, Jurgen Klopp acknowledged that Liverpool wouldn’t be able to continue at their current form. And would not be able to compete in the Champions League next season.
“That is not my main concern, but obviously, I am not that stupid that I don’t know about distances and who is up there,” Klopp declared.
“Suppose we continue to play as inconsistently as we do right now. In that case, we will not be eligible for the Champions League. We must correct it.”
“How we defended the second goal is my primary concern,” he continued. “When it is clear that you cannot defend yourself that way, we give up. When they pass the ball through, the situation changes from two vs. one to three vs. one briefly before returning to two vs. one in the box.”
“At 1-1, we had several tremendous opportunities, but our defense for the second goal was the game’s worst letdown. That must not occur.”
“In this situation, which is challenging, I would have readily accepted the draw; however, now that we are standing here with nothing, the problem is entirely different.”
?ļø 'You cannot defend like we did for the second goal.'
Jurgen Klopp reacts as Liverpool suffer a second consecutive Premier League defeat. āā pic.twitter.com/vvvJb42fmU
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 29, 2022
Jesse Marsch happy to stop the bleeding
After Leeds’ thrilling 2-1 victory over Liverpool, manager Jesse Marsch praised his team’s tenacity and confidence, noting that it had been “vital to stop the bleeding.”
“The most incredible thing, in my opinion, was that you could see genuine commitment at 1-1,” according to Marsch.
“We mentioned that last week, when it was close with Fulham (a 3-2 home loss), that we were more waiting to lose than wanting to win,” he remarked.
“Illan had to make some significant saves for us. Still, I believe that the team’s determination and faith in itself allowed them to continue forward. We remain competitive and see if they could somehow earn three points or at least walk away with one.”
“I’m glad for our people,” I said. “It was vital to halt the bleeding, which was incredibly important for us. We must launch ourselves using this. That makes next weekend’s match between Leeds and Bournemouth at Elland Road extremely significant.”
