One moment vs Ajax made Caoimhin Kelleher look simply remarkable

Add as preferred source on Google

Caoimhin Kelleher was a surprise selection vs Ajax as Liverpool qualified from their Champions League group. The 22-year-old was took his chance.

Alisson Becker missed Liverpool against Ajax on Tuesday. So in comes Adrian, right? Nope. It was 22-year-old Caoimhin Kelleher for the biggest game of his career.

We have that down as the biggest risk of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool career. A young goalkeeper with next to no top-level experience, coming in for a big game against a very good team.

And yet Kelleher played very well and kept a clean-sheet in a 1-0 win over Ajax. He made a couple of very fine saves, too, but it was an entirely different moment that made his performance look remarkable.

Under pressure

In fact, Kelleher wasn’t even involved in the moment – he was at the other end of the pitch. But Andre Onana’s mistake for Curtis Jones’ winner was a reminder of the pressure everyone was under.

Neco Williams sent in a teasing cross and forced Onana to make a decision. He decided to come out and leave – in hindsight, a terrible choice. Jones snuck around the back and tapped it over the line.

As a result, Liverpool won the game and qualified from their group. From that one mistake that happened in a flash – just a poor decision from a goalkeeper.

But those were the stakes and that’s why Kelleher deserves a huge amount of credit for his display.

In truth, he almost made the same mistake as Onana in the first-half. He came out for a cross and got too far under it. But fortunately, the following shot didn’t go in.

On the whole, though, Kelleher was very solid in a high-pressure game. It’s an encouraging sign and one that may well see him between the post going forward while Alisson is out.