By Simon Evans
Liverpool – Liverpool’s Joel Matip scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute of their Champions League Group A match against Ajax Amsterdam at Anfield on Tuesday.
The team coached by Juergen Klopp had lost their initial group game 4-1 against Napoli and were headed for another disastrous result until the centre defender rose to meet a corner that appeared to be cleared off the line, but the assistant referee raised his flag to signal a goal.
The English squad shown an increased effort, although it was still far below their best.
Mohamed Salah gave the home team the lead in the 17th minute after being set up by Diogo Jota, beating Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer with a spectacular finish.
The lead, however, lasted only ten minutes when Ajax equalized with a fantastic goal from Mohammed Kudus, who created space for himself in the area and then blasted the ball into the top corner.
🎇 𝘼𝙉𝙁𝙄𝙀𝙇𝘿 𝙀𝙓𝙋𝙇𝙊𝘿𝙀𝙎 🥳
Joel Matip scores in the 89th minute to give Liverpool a monumental UCL victory over Ajax. pic.twitter.com/pHPUiOcUx6
13 Sep 2022 — SuperSport Football (@SSFootball)
Liverpool responded strongly to the setback, with Virgil van Dijk forcing Pasveer into action in the 35th minute with a powerful header from a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner.
Alexander-Arnold then came close himself, rushing into the inside-right channel, cutting inside onto his left foot, and shooting straight at Pasveer’s chest before the Ajax goalkeeper reacted superbly to block the follow-up attempt.
Ajax fullback Daley Blind squandered a golden opportunity to put the Dutch team ahead when he was left unmarked at the back post but missed the target with his header.
In the 83rd minute, Nunez should have won the game for Liverpool when Salah played him in, but the Uruguayan forward scuffed his shot from a wonderful position inside the box.
Salah’s deflected shot then hit the post, and from the resultant Kostas Tsimikas corner kick, Matip scored the game-winning goal.
After a difficult start to the season and a catastrophic performance in Naples, Liverpool will be relieved merely to have secured the three points.
“It is a really significant first step,” remarked Klopp.
The reactions of Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool’s victory over Ajax.
Matip’s reaction to finding out he last scored a #UCL goal nine years ago 😂 pic.twitter.com/KGpu35WdMI
13 Sep 2022 — SuperSport Football (@SSFootball)
“I believe everyone could tell that we understood and that we had to make a drastic shift” (to Naples). The boys performed this action. We played a great deal of quality material against a formidable opponent. “He scored the opening goal and should have scored more, particularly from set pieces,” he remarked.
Alfred Schreuder, coach of Ajax, stated that his team struggled to deal with Liverpool’s “intensity.”
“This is not a catastrophe, but we must learn from it,” he remarked.
“We are still maturing. There are a number of men who have not played these kind of games. It is very beneficial to them,” he continued.
During the pre-match tribute to Queen Elizabeth, there were no jeers or chants, which will have been a source of relief for Liverpool officials and the English football community as a whole.
It was feared that some Liverpool supporters, who had jeered Prince William at Wembley Stadium in May, might not observe the “time of silence.”
A few scattered yells interrupted the silence, which lasted barely 25 seconds as opposed to the typical minute.