Liverpool pulled off a fantastic win vs Leicester City on Wednesday evening, with a standout performance by James Milner. The veteran midfielder changed the game.
Liverpool had a fairly awful first half against Leicester. They were 2-0 down in 14 minutes, twice carved open for Jamie Vardy to score. The Reds just couldn’t control the game, with their much-changed XI lacking the right players for the job.
But Jurgen Klopp moved to change things at half-time. On came Ibrahima Konate in defence, Diogo Jota up top and James Milner at the base of midfield. All three proved inspired.
Jota scored the second Liverpool goal, of course. Konate did a wonderful job at marshalling Vardy and Patson Daka, too. But Milner may have been the biggest change here.
Milner thrives for Liverpool vs Leicester
Tyler Morton just lacked experience against a fine Leicester midfield. His replacement at half-time, Milner, showed the difference there as he simply ran the show for Liverpool.
Nothing shows that better than Milner boasting a 93% pass completion over the second half. That was better than anyone else on the pitch, helping the Reds establish true control on the game for the first time.
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And it wasn’t all safe passing, either. Milner created three chances in just 45 minutes, one of which was an assist for the 95th-minute equaliser.
The 35-year-old was perfect defensively, too. He won two tackles from two attempts, with Milner not dribbled past once. Just exactly what Liverpool needed in front of their defence across the second half.
This was brilliant from Milner and you’d have to call it a perfect captain’s performance from the vice-caption. He controlled the game, helped Liverpool create far more and delivered the consistency the performance needed.
Click here for 5 things we learned from the game.