‘If it was Mo’: Henderson reacts to being told Liverpool’s first vs Villarreal went down as an own goal

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Jordan Henderson didn’t get credited with Liverpool’s first goal against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. He wasn’t thrilled with that.

Liverpool struggled to break down a resolute Villarreal side at Anfield – though, that was to be expected. This was a team that found a way to get past both Juventus and Bayern Munich, after all.

It seems it took a half-time team talk to keep Liverpool from getting frustrated, in fact. The Reds just kept on pushing, sticking to their game and waiting for some sort of breakthrough. Eventually, it came.

Jordan Henderson made it happen. His cross on 53 minutes took a deflection that deceived goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli to find the far post. That made it 1-0 and Liverpool forced a second just two minutes later – game over and, potentially, the tie.

It was the Reds’ captain, then, who took credit but he found out after the game that he wouldn’t get the goal. Instead, it’s gone down as an own goal for Pervis Estupinan.

“You’re joking!” he told CBS Sports when they broke that news. “I’ve got to [claim it].

“If it was Mo [Salah], he’d claim it – wouldn’t he? So I’ve got to. You’ve got to claim it.”

Jordan Henderson doesn’t get Liverpool goal

You’re damn right Mohamed Salah would claim that goal. He maybe wouldn’t swear on anyone’s life to make the claim but he’d certainly push for the credit.

Henderson’s maybe a bit unlucky with this one, then, as it was certainly him who made things happen. At the end of the day, though, we doubt he’s too fussed.

The important thing is that the moment pushed Liverpool towards another trophy – and another trophy lift for their captain. They firmly have one foot in the Champions League final and a solid performance next week puts them in their third under Jurgen Klopp.

Henderson, goal or not, played a gigantic part in making this happen.