Gary Lineker has said that one of Liverpool’s most famous Premier League goals left him devastated due to its wider consequences.
He, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer were ranking the division’s greatest last-minute winners for the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast, with the ex-Newcastle striker placing Alisson Becker’s iconic intervention against West Brom in May 2021 in 10th place.
That ranking stunned the other two pundits, with Leicester-supporting Lineker admitting that the goal left him crestfallen due to its impact on the Foxes’ hopes of a top-four finish in that season.
The 62-year-old said: “I’m glad he’s not won because that would’ve depressed me because that goal meant that Leicester wouldn’t qualify for the Champions League and finished in fifth place.
“It was like devastating. It’s a shame because whenever a goalkeeper scores it’s a brilliant moment, unless it’s against your team.”
We’re quite baffled that Shearer placed it a lowly 10th on his list, even allowing for the Premier League throwing up famous last-gasp winners such as Stan Collymore v Newcastle in 1996 and Sergio Aguero’s title-winning strike for Manchester City in 2012.
Considering how difficult that 2020/21 season had been for Liverpool, and what was on the line in terms of Champions League qualification, for their goalkeeper to go up the pitch and net a stoppage time winner in the third-last match of the campaign was one of the extraordinary moments in the division’s history.
All other things being equal, the Reds would still have finished third even had Alisson not scored at The Hawthorns, but the margins would’ve been so much tighter. Also, its psychological impact certainly galvanised us and flattened Leicester, who just missed out on the top four for the second year running.
It may have had an adverse effect on the Foxes, but no Liverpool fan will ever forget the sheer jubilation and disbelief that the Brazilian’s header prompted, especially after such a testing season for him and the team.