Liverpool supporters did not know whether to laugh or cry when Harrison Reed flung in a ridiculously good long-range equaliser against them on Sunday.
Reds fans thought Cody Gakpo had won it for them in the final minutes of added-time, handing them an important turnaround victory.
However, Reed had other ideas, lashing home a super effort which Alisson Becker could get nowhere near.
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While the Fulham man will rightly be given plaudits for the quality of the goal, there should be question marks over Liverpool‘s closing down.
Reed was given the freedom of Craven Cottage to spank one into the top corner, and although he was not on the pitch at the time, it was good to hear Florian Wirtz call his teammates out for a lack of pressure on the ball.
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It was so typical of the way Liverpool’s luck has gone this season that Reed’s hopeful effort flew right into the top corner.
However, the goal was not inevitable. As Wirtz pointed out to Sky Sports after the game, Liverpool should have done a better job of getting near to the ball.
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“The strike, there is nothing to say,” said Wirtz. “It was unbelievable. You cannot save that ball. Normally, it doesn’t go in like this.
“The actions before could have been better, I’m not sure. It was from a throw-in, so we have to be better.
“Again, we are in a difficult situation because we drew two times. It’s not what we want, we want more. We have to get better but it’s still a process.”
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Arne Slot was preparing for long-throw
Wirtz is absolutely right to point out that Liverpool were not good enough in preventing Reed’s late equalising goal. But there was a clear reason for their reluctance to press.
Speaking to BBC Sport post-game, Arne Slot admitted that Liverpool had been expecting the late throw-in to go long into the box.
The Dutchman had even brought Joe Gomez on to help the Reds repel anything into their goalmouth.
“We brought Gomez in because he is very good in the air but they didn’t take it long, they took it short, and it was an incredible strike,” Slot said. “It is not for the first time this season that we have conceded in the final seconds of the game.”
The head coach cannot be faulted for his thought process, but his players should have been alert to the danger Reed posed and got out to meet him much quicker. Had they done their job, Liverpool would have been celebrating a hard-fought three points.
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