Liverpool Echo journalist Theo Squires was critical of one Reds player over the concession of an early goal against Arsenal this evening.
Despite the home fans answering Jurgen Klopp’s call to intensify the atmosphere at Anfield, the stadium was temporarily silenced inside the first five minutes when Gabriel Magalhaes got his head to Martin Odegaard’s free kick and steered the ball into the net to give the Gunners a dream start.
The set piece stemmed from a foul by Ibrahima Konate, who then lost the Brazilian defender from the resulting free.
In the Liverpool Echo live matchday blog (17:37), Squires wrote: “Konate concedes the free-kick and then loses Gabriel for the goal. Not his finest hour.”
Konate certainly won’t be pleased with his role in Liverpool falling behind so early against their title rivals, being caught leaden-footed by Gabriel as the free kick was whipped in.
The 24-year-old isn’t the only Reds player who might be cursing themselves over the goal, though, with Alisson Becker uncharacteristically in something of a no-mans-land in rushing off his line before stopping, but getting nowhere near the ball.
Klopp’s side simply can’t afford to be so sloppy defensively from set pieces against a team of Arsenal’s calibre, and – at the time of writing – they’ve given themselves an extra obstacle to overcome if they’re to inflict defeat on the Gunners.
The only consolation is that they have almost the entire match to muster a comeback, rather than being sucker-punched right at the death.
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