Norwich 4-5 Liverpool – Highlights & Match Report from maddest match in Premier League history

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What on earth has just happened?!

Unless we were dreaming, Liverpool have just beaten Norwich 5-4, having come back from 3-1 down to lead 4-3, only to concede to go 4-4 in injury time.

Adam Lallana, with literally the last kick of the game, scuffed a volley home to send us all barmy.

Terrible quality, but one of the best Premier League games every played in terms of pure entertainment.

And a 5-4 win for Liverpool!

Jurgen Klopp made just one change from the side which lost to Manchester United in the Premier League last time out, with Jordon Ibe replacing the not totally fit Lallana. Christian Benteke stayed on the bench with Roberto Firmino initially preferred again as a false-9.

Norwich started on top, and Liverpool were struggling to string passes together. Strangely Klopp’s men were not pressing as usual, and looked a little flat all over the park. The Canaries didn’t capitalise though, and when Ibe picked the ball up on the left and skinned a few defenders, it was clear they were vulnerable at the back. And on 14 minutes we’d taken the led, when tidy work from Alberto Moreno and James Milner put Firmino through on goal.

Thanks to a deflection, he notched his 4th Premier League goal, justifying Klopp’s decision to keep him up top.

The forward then put Milner through on a goal a few minutes later, but the midfielder fluffed a one-on-one, as Liverpool players always seem to do at the moment!

Then, the curse of the set-piece struck again, making Milner’s miss minutes earlier look all the worse.

A corner was delivered into the box, not dealt with, and after a header back into the box, Mbokani back-heeled past Simon Mignolet in goal. Our defending of set-plays is simply atrocious, and verging on embarrassing at times.

The goal injected life into a Norwich side that was there for the taking, and it got worse before half-time.

Liverpool failed to track former Everton man Steven Naismith’s run on debut, and the Scot finished past Mignolet in goal. Should the Belgian have done better? Yes – probably – which makes his recent five year contract just seem all the more ridiculous.

Fans on social media were fuming, and rightly so. The lack of intensity, fight and ‘defending’ on display was so shoddy.

Moreno then committed defensive suicide on 51 minutes which summed up a totally miserable afternoon at the back. The Spaniard stupidly fouled Naismith in the box, twice, for seemingly no reason. With his side already 2-1 down, it was unforgivable. Norwich converted and Liverpool were 3-1 down before the hour.

Little did fans know what they were about to witness.  96 seconds after the penalty though, Liverpool’s captain got us back into the game. Henderson found space in the box after more shambolic defending, this time from the home side, and he used his side-foot to finish coolly past Declan Rudd.

By 63 minutes, the comeback was complete. Adam Lallana fed Firmino, our best player by a country mile, through on goal – and the Brazilian controlled and finished neatly to make it two braces in three game.

With half an hour left, and the score at 3-3, it was anyone’s game.

Incredibly Jonny Howson then made a mistake worse than Moreno’s lead to gift us a lead. The Canaries man played a horribly underweighted back-pass which Milner read – and the vice-captain didn’t mess up this time – finishing coolly past a hapless keeper.

Liverpool were 4-3 up after being 3-1 down away from home, and Christian Benteke was on to rub salt in Norwich’s wounds. Firmino had a few chances to complete his hat-trick, but the action was not over yet. Norwich belted a long ball into the box, but Sakho’s defending was poor again – and Sebastien Bassong of all people slammed in from outside of the area to make it 4-4.

Ridiculously, confirming one of the most bizarre but brilliant games in Premier League history, Lallana grabbed us a winner at the death.

He scuffed a volley into the ground and it found the back of the net. He lost his shirt, Benteke broke Klopp’s glasses in the celebration, and the final whistle blew.

Outrageous!

It’s great that we came back, and it’s great Firmino took the game by the horns, but the defending and quality was abysmal.

Still, today is one to remember for the travelling Kop and will hopefully spur us on to bigger and better things.

What. A. Match!

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