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That was a looooooong time coming. Not just a win at Anfield, but a win of THAT type. You know, the type we used to pull out of the bag all the time back in the ‘mentality monsters’ days. I don’t remember the last time we did anything like this but it felt good. Very satisfying, especially given the way this game went. We fell behind, got slapped in the face by VAR yet again, responded superbly, equalised but then seemed to lose our way until a last, late flurry that brought us the winner. If we manage to sneak into the top four come the end of the season this is definitely the game we’ll look back on as being pivotal, because had we not bagged that late winner I think it would have been all over for us. Psychologically, failing to win yet another game at Anfield would have been too much to come back from. The performance itself did nothing to suggest we have what it takes to break into the top four but that can change. The main thing is picking up points while you wait for the performances to pick up, and we did that. I don’t feel especially encouraged or happy about where we are but it was such a relief to win this game. It was a great feeling when Trent lashed in that winner, especially as it was obvious that there was no way they could disallow this one. I actually celebrated it, which is rare these days. Still no first half goal for us though. It’s just getting really fucking weird now isn’t it? We never score in the first half anymore. And when we do, it doesn’t count, but I’ll get to that shortly. As expected, Sadio was benched and Bobby came back in. Milner was also recalled, which again, I think we all expected too. We started ok but typically we weren’t sharp in the final third. We were completely dominant though. At one point the graphic came up that we’d had 10 attempts on goal but the only one I could even remember was a sitter that Mo missed. What were all the other ones? There was a Jota header from a corner as well, that was pretty close, but I can’t remember anything else. I never really had the feeling we were going to score even though Carragher kept talking about how we looked so more dangerous than we have been in other home games. I didn’t feel that way, mainly because their keeper wasn’t having to do anything. That miss from Mo was bad though. Mings made a mess of it and although the keeper was out quickly it looked like Mo could have skipped around him and finished with his right foot. Instead he took it early with his left, but that was an almost impossible finish with the outside of his boot and it was always going to go wide. We were well on top though and Villa didn’t look dangerous at all. There was a Konsa header from a corner that went straight at Alisson, but they really weren’t offering much. And then they scored. Out of nothing. Kabak got in front of Watkins to make a challenge but the ball went to a Villa player and now Watkins was goal side. The ball was played to him and although Kabak got back at him, the striker got his shot away and Alisson somehow let it go under him. Shite that again, but at least he’s ditched the tash now. We’ve been in this situation a lot over the last few months and we’ve rarely been able to respond. This time it looked as though we’d hit back fairly quickly when Bobby finished from close range jut before half time. I didn’t celebrate but there wasn’t anything specific that I’d seen that made me think it might be disallowed. It’s just a general thing now. I’ve almost become attuned to not celebrating, just in case. And as soon as I saw the first replay I knew it was getting disallowed. I’m not saying it was or wasn’t offside, but it was close enough that there was no way those lines were going to be drawn in our favour. Whenever it’s that tight and there’s enough wiggle room for them, it’s going to come down against us. It always does. The only hope was that the replay would show that Cash got a touch on the ball before it reached Jota. He made a play at it and it probably brushed him, but the replay was inconclusive, so then out came the lines and we all knew what would follow. I don’t know how long it took from the moment the ball hit the net to them ruling it out, but it felt like three or four minutes. It’s just a fucking joke really. They’re just always so fucking desperate to disallow goals. Especially ours. I’m not even saying they got this wrong because there was no visible proof as to whether Cash played the ball (I hate that shit rule anyway) so you can’t give that, and Jota’s arm may have been a fraction ahead of the last defender’s knee. Then again, it might not have been. I’m not even blaming the officials too much for this. They’re the swelling when you have the mumps, or the scabs when you have chickenpox. The rule makers are a bigger problem than the rule enforcers. I just think the whole process is fucking killing the game and making it virtually unwatchable. If you’ve got to forensically examine it like that then it’s close enough that the attacking team should always get the benefit. That’s how it should be, but instead we’ve got these busy little traffic warden cunts looking for reasons to disallow goals and ruin everyone’s enjoyment of the sport. I hate it now. There’s no real pleasure in football anymore because VAR has sucked it all out. If VAR isn’t scrapped at the end of the season I honestly don’t know how much longer I’m going to keep watching. Something I hadn’t even thought of until I read it on the forum (credit to Niallers), but there hasn’t been one incident when the lines overlapped to show that it was level. That in itself shows that these close calls are completely at the discretion of the VAR because there has not been a single ‘level’ since they introduced this shit, even though there has to have been incidents when the players are indeed dead level. So given that some of them will have been level but were not called as such, we know beyond any doubt that they are moving the line one way or another to avoid a scenario where it’s ‘level’. So how do they decide which way to move it? If there is a default ruling where they have to allow (or disallow) the goal then why haven’t we been told? It fucking stinks this doesn’t it? What’s the point of football if you can’t celebrate goals? There is no point. None whatsoever. May as well not bother watching it live anymore and just watch the highlights later. The big thing with football was always being in the moment. The euphoria of a goal. It doesn’t exist now. The one saving grace was that it happened just before half time and not just after. We had 15 minutes to get over it and channel the anger from it, and we did just that. The response was great. We started the second half looking really lively. There was a purpose about our play and we were moving the ball much quicker. The equaliser came from a flowing move and even though it was a little fortunate in how the ball eventually fell to Salah (Robbo shooting from an unlikely angle and the keeper parrying it straight at him) it was a deserved goal and credit to Mo for getting in there. You’d have thought that would have given us a real lift and we could have taken advantage of it and put Villa to the sword, but if anything it had the opposite effect. The urgency we’d shown to get level seemed to just ebb away and Villa were quite comfortable. That’s as concerning as it is disappointing. Maybe that’s one of those effects of no fans? Anfield would have been rocking after the equaliser and Villa would have known there was a storm coming. Without fans momentum just isn’t as big a factor though. Goals don’t really change games that much now. Klopp sent on Thiago for Gini and then Sadio for Firmino. I didn’t like that second change because Bobby was doing alright and I’d have preferred Milner to have gone off instead. We needed a winner so why not go with the four forwards? What did my head in even more was Shaq being given two fucking minutes at the end (plus stoppage time). At least give him five or ten minutes. Sending him on after 88 minutes seemed absolutely fucking pointless, yet it actually worked as he was involved in the winner. As the clocked ticked into stoppage time I’d pretty much given up, especially given the lack of urgency on show. Thiago, Fabinho and Alisson knocking it around in their own half as time was running out really wound me up. Then it happened. Trent had sort of ambled forward into space and collected the ball in the centre. The ball ended up out wide with Robbo and his cross was just too high for Mané. Shaq and Thiago worked something between themselves and Thiago met Shaq’s return cross with a powerful volley that looked sure to go in. I was on my feet for that, but no, fuck off, it’s too close to the keeper who made a good save. Oh well, that’s that then. More points thrown away at home. But no, it ended up at Trent’s feet on the left edge of the box. He shifted it to his right peg and bent one into the corner. Get the fuck in! Villa had been time wasting for most of the second half but now all of a sudden they were in a hurry. They threw men forward and put plenty of crosses in the box, but Big Nat’s head was on the end of most of them. We held out comfortably and should have made it 3-1 when Shaq slid a ball through for Mané to get himself a much needed goal. The keeper stood up well and won the battle, but the finish was just weak as fuck though and really showed just where Sadio’s confidence level is at right now. He’s normally great in those situations. It didn’t matter as it was the last kick of the game but that could have been a real morale booster for him ahead of the Madrid game. Instead he goes into it with his confidence on the floor. I probably wouldn’t start him but I think Klopp will and I reckon it’ll be Jota who makes way. Maybe all four will start though. I have zero expectation for that game but if we were to score first then you never know. I just can’t see us keeping a clean sheet, especially with Alisson in this kind of form. We’ll see though. Star man isn’t easy but I’m going for Phillips who was rock solid all afternoon. I can’t remember him putting a foot wrong and it was a good response to a difficult night in Madrid. Robbo was better than he has been of late and Fabinho was good too, but the big fella deserves it. Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Kabak (Shaqiri), Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum (Thiago), Milner; Salah, Firmino (Mané), Jota: