Journalist pinpoints three moments where Liverpool players’ reactions summed up steely performance | OneFootball

In becoming the first team this season to record an away Premier League win at Sunderland on Wednesday night, Liverpool put in a steely, resolute performance which has been in marked contrast to many other games this season.

In keeping with a hard-fought game in horrendous weather conditions, the decisive goal wasn’t exactly a Puskas Award contender, with Virgil van Dijk’s header from a corner kick proving too strong for Habib Diarra on the goalline to keep out of the home side’s net.

Arne Slot was thrilled with how his team made a set piece count on Wearside, while the captain hailed the result as a ‘great win’ which came after a night of ‘hard work’.

Steele pinpoints three moments which typified Liverpool victory

In an article for the Daily Mail reflecting on the victory for Liverpool, Lewis Steele pointed to how three moments of defensive heroism from the Reds drew the sort of reactions from teammates which’d be more associated with goal celebrations.

The journalist wrote: ‘Virgil van Dijk’s reaction to scoring a match-winning goal may have been rather low-key but the skipper and his colleagues soon made up for it by celebrating every block, tackle and clearance thereafter as if they had scored.

‘There were five green Liverpool shirts around Van Dijk to mob him for a last-gasp intervention, more thanking the imperious Wataru Endo who injured himself in stretching for a clearance and then a queue to high-five Joe Gomez for a composed header when under pressure.’

(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Liverpool showed immense character in victory over Sunderland

There were times in the final half-hour after the winning goal where the Reds looked nervy, which would’ve been understandable given their tendency to fritter away points with late concessions, but last night they showed sufficient character to get over the line with victory intact.

It’s a source of huge regret that Endo suffered a bad injury in attempting to clear from a Sunderland attack midway through the second half, and that full-blooded commitment from the Japanese midfielder typifies him and his team’s performance.

It wasn’t just at 1-0 up that Liverpool were putting bodies on the line, either – there was one particularly brilliant clearance from Ibrahima Konate in the first half to deny Brian Brobbey a free shot on goal. Had the Black Cats gone ahead at that juncture, the night could have transpired rather differently, given the energy it would’ve generated for the home side and sapped from the visitors.

The Reds have justifiably been criticised for the nature of their defending on numerous occasions this season, but the win on Wearside showed that Slot’s outfit have the stomach for a fight to finish in the Champions League positions.

As we know from previous title-winning campaigns, hard-fought results such as the one last night can often be looked back upon as the kind of seminal moment which attests to a team’s character.

Obviously we won’t be winning the league this time around, but if we go on to salvage a top-four finish, the away win over Sunderland may just yet come to be regarded as a major staging post.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Sunderland press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: