The Brazilian No.9 grabbed a late equaliser against Aston Villa, but dropped points mean Champions League football next season is now very unlikely
Roberto Firmino got his farewell Anfield goal, but Liverpool’s Champions League dreams are hanging by a thread after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa. Firmino marked his final home appearance for the Reds with an 89th-minute equaliser in front of the Kop, but the result means Jurgen Klopp’s side now need a miracle if they are to secure a top-four finish, with Newcastle and Manchester United each needing only a point from their final two games to seal Champions League qualification.
On an emotional afternoon, Liverpool fans said goodbye not only to Firmino, but to James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, each of whom will leave the club on a free transfer in the summer. Their performance, though, will have left Klopp frustrated, as their season of struggle looks set to end on a sour note.
Breaks down the winners & losers from Anfield…
WINNER: Roberto Firmino
Where else to start? The man whose picture took up the most space on the matchday programme, whose freshly-painted mural was unveiled on the wall of a house near Anfield on Saturday morning.
The man whose smile and skills have lit up this football club for eight years. The man who did it all and won it all for Liverpool, who wore No.9 but redefined the term ‘False Nine’, whose no-look finishes and kung-fu celebrations made him so loved and adored.
The man who did the business for the Reds here, one last time. Off the bench after 72 minutes, on the scoresheet after 89. A poacher’s finish, right in front of the Kop. Just as he dreamed it.
It wasn’t quite the perfect ending, but it was close. It keeps Liverpool, just about, alive in the race for the top four, but they need snookers now, surely. The Europa League is theirs next season.
As for Firmino, he’ll move onto pastures new, and you can be sure that whoever is lucky enough to have him next term will love him. Just not quite as much as Liverpool fans do. Nobody ever could.
LOSER: Luis Diaz
Sometimes, it really isn’t your day. Nobody could fault Liverpool’s endeavour here, but boy did they lack quality, conviction and precision at times.
Nobody encapsulated that more than Diaz, who worked his socks off throughout but who found nothing but frustration in his own performance, littered with poor decisions, loose touches and dodgy passes as it was.
The Colombian was the man who made way for Firmino, 18 minutes from the end, so at least he played some part in Liverpool’s recovery. Otherwise, a disappointing, injury-blighted campaign ended in disappointing fashion.
WINNER: James Milner
“Ribena for my men, we ride at dawn,” read the banner on the Kop, and if you know, you know. It is a reference to a famous comment from Milner after Liverpool had beaten Roma to reach the 2018 Champions League final, in which he joked that he might celebrate by upgrading his usual drink – water – to something a little more exciting.
Five years on from that memorable night in the Stadio Olimpico, Anfield was forced to say goodbye to a player, a person, who has summed up their rise and success under Jurgen Klopp. “There’s only one James Milner,” they sang, and isn’t that true?
Never the flashiest, the coolest or the most talked about, Milner has nonetheless been the standard-bearer for Klopp’s Liverpool, the man for all seasons, who plays anywhere and never lets his levels drop. He’s 37 now, and he’s still the man Klopp turns to most when he needs a game changing, killing or chasing.
He came on here doing the latter, his 331st appearance for the Reds ending with him helping turn a deficit into a result. An all-time great signing, for this or any club.
LOSER: VAR
There’s nothing more boring than a discussion about referees and VAR, is there? So let’s have one anyway. Liverpool thought they had equalised here, early in the second half, when Cody Gakpo forced the ball home after a goalmouth scramble in front of the Kop. They grabbed the ball from the net and made their way to the halfway line, ready to go after the win.
Then, a delay. A possible offside in the build-up, but where? Diaz, who had headed the ball down, certainly wasn’t, and nor was Ibrahima Konate, whose initial effort was blocked on the line. Gakpo, who finished it off, wasn’t, so why the pause?
It turned out that the VAR, Tony Harrington, felt that Virgil van Dijk might have been off as he kept the ball alive following Diaz’s header. But the ball had landed at the Dutchman’s feet having struck Ezri Konsa, the Aston Villa defender, and so John Brooks, the referee, was called across to look at the monitor and determine whether Konsa had ‘deliberately’ attempted to play the ball, therefore negating the offside, or whether it had been a deflection, which would make Van Dijk off.
He went for the latter, leaving Liverpool’s players and bench fuming. Perhaps it was a good job for Brooks that Jurgen Klopp, whom he clashed with during the recent game against Tottenham, was sat in the stands for this one. Klopp might have spontaneously combusted had he been in his usual spot on the touchline.
WINNER: Newcastle & Manchester United
The two Uniteds will have celebrated this result as vociferously as anyone. Barring a miracle, both Newcastle and Manchester United will have Champions League football next season.
Eddie Howe’s side did their job by beating Brighton at St James’ Park on Thursday, and Erik ten Hag’s men followed up with a win of their own at Bournemouth on Saturday. Liverpool blinked, and now need snookers.
The Reds need one of Newcastle or Manchester United to lose both of their last two games, and to win themselves at Southampton on the final day. Stranger things have happened, but not many.
LOSER: Jordan Henderson
If Diaz’s struggles were plain to see, and his substitution an act of mercy, the same could certainly be said of Henderson, whose performance here, on and off the ball, was painful at times.
The captain symbolised Liverpool’s sluggish start, his passes just a little off, the speed of his play just a little too slow, his press just a little too late. Villa, with the excellent Douglas Luiz, the tenacious John McGinn and the robust Boubacar Kamara, played round Liverpool’s midfield in the first half. It was too easy.
Henderson tried, delivering plenty of balls from his usual right-wing station. Only one found its target, Diaz heading wide. It was the same story after the break, the England international not able to stamp any kind of authority on a game in which his side needed inspiration.
With an expensive midfield rebuild expected at Anfield, the heat will be turned up on the likes of Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara. So it should be, too. What they have produced this season, for the most part, has been substandard.
