Compromise Deal
Like that old cliché about good compromises being when nobody leaves happy, this draw was, perhaps, the most likely outcome at the outset. The Reds, eager to avenge their only loss in the season so far, and wanting to put serious distance between themselves and the rest of the league. The other guys, chanting about being the real reds tonight, just as eager to put a stamp on their championship (the title, not the league) aspirations and prove to everyone they are serious contenders.
In the end, Liverpool kept their distance, and Forest still look mighty solid, yet neither managed to deliver the killer blow. The theoretical winners are, of course, the Gunners, who are yet to play.
Forest did what they have been doing so well all season, and in less than ten minutes, Chris Wood (who else?) had them one up after a significant lapse of concentration by Konate. Then they spent the rest of the first half frustrating a rather anemic Liverpool side who racked up the passes in midfield but could not seem to connect in the final third. Forest don’t challenge, but they fight like hell for every contested ball, and their counters are extremely efficient. That’s their game, and it can be very effective.
In the first half, it left Matz Sels with quite literally nothing to do as Liverpool couldn’t manage a single shot on target, out of ten (possibly more) in total.
It was in the second half that Sels suddenly found plenty of opportunity to put his skills on display. It started around the hour mark, when Slot finally threw Jota and Kostas in the ring. The two instantly combined for the equalizer, as Kostas delivered a peach of a cross from yet another corner, and Jota slotted in between all the red shirts to coolly head the ball in. The execution of the entire play was so perfect, it looked easy, when it reality it was anything but.
Now that Liverpool had their equalizer, they were hunting for more, and Forest should surely send their keeper a gift basket for all the crucial saves he made. There was the one from Gakpo after one of his signature kicks from around the corner of the box, which took a deflection and needed a lunging fingertip save to turn it around the post. There were two or three from Salah, who finally started hitting the target. There was an incredible one from Jota, who could not believe his lyin’ eyes. On a different day, this could have ended up a route, but today Sels shut the game down and kept a precious point in the hosts’ coffers.
You’d think that Sels is my man-of-the-match, but he isn’t; that honor goes to a (former) Liverpool player, one who played in red today. Neco Williams was downright immense. If you want to know why Salah didn’t seem to exist in the first half, you only have to look at Neco. If you want to know why Salah showed up in the last 20 minutes, it’s because Neco was completely spent after his truly magnificent display.
From the perspective of the title run, Liverpool’s main goal today was not to lose, and that was accomplished. With everyone else in the vicinity dropping points, it seems that Arsenal have a chance of getting back into it, but Liverpool is still seven ahead of them with the same number of games played, a hefty margin. We have every reason to remain cautiously optimistic, something that doesn’t come naturally to a Liverpool fan. It also seems ever more likely that the May 10th, vs. Arsenal at Anfield, will end up as a very, very big game.
In the meantime, we’d love to see the win column rise again.