Key events
60 mins: Half a chance for Salah, who miscontrols on the edge of the area. Then a chance for Leicester! Mavididi crosses low from the left, and Daka completely misses his kick at the near post!
60 mins: …Anyway, Denis Law had absolutely no memory of the game whatsoever.
58 mins: Vestergaard is booked, and Robertson is booked for asking for Vestergaard to be booked.
58 mins: So eventually I get Denis’s number and call him up, looking forward to hearing a great story from a great raconteur …
57 mins: Liverpool are looking very comfortable at the moment. Anyway, I spoke to Denis Law about that game once. First I had to get in touch with him: I called Manchester United’s press office and asked the woman who answered my call if she knew how to find Denis Law. “You mean dad?” she asked. It was Diana Law …
56 mins: “There can be some hard luck stories when matches are abandoned,” writes Gary Naylor, who won’t let the fact this game isn’t going to be abandoned get in the way of a good story. He suggests Luton v Manchester City in 1961 as the best example – Denis Law had scored six times and City led 6-2; they lost the replay 3-1. It’s a game I happen to know a little about …
53 mins: “You are correct about Barnes preferring to go on the outside and use his left foot,” fact-checks Andy Flintoff (not that one). “However, there was a famous goal in the 4-4 v Everton in 1991 (prior to Dalglish’s resignation) that was from cutting inside and curling with the right.”
52 mins: And eventually the goal is given!
51 mins: The issue is Salah, who was very close to offside when the ball was played to him in the build-up. But there were so many phases of play it takes an age to go through and clear them all.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Leicester (Jones, 49 mins)
And Liverpool lead! It’s the kind of move that league leaders make, keeping the ball, moving it around in tight spaces, and finally Mac Allister sends in a low cross that Jones turns in! VAR is, inevitably, checking for offside.
48 mins: Before this game Liverpool were just fourth in the first-half-only league table. In the second-half-only table they are four points clear with two games in hand.
47 mins: The first chance of the half falls to Nunezs, who sidefoots over the bar from eight yards.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! The players are back out and the game is back on!
Matt Dony liked Gakpo’s goal. “Coutinho-esque from Gakpo there. Love to see it,” he writes. Nick Smith also writes approvingly. “Shades of John Barnes?” he suggests. Liverpool fans have had it good, have they not? Those are two great players to reminisce over (or they were great when they were there, one of them rather lost his way afterwards). It was more Coutinho than Barnes, I think: having been an actually left-footed left-winger Barnes was less likely to do that cut infield and shoot with the right thing.
“Loved Tom Gould’s story of the pea-souper against Aldershot way back when,” writes Colum Fordham. “Haven’t the foggiest what the outcome of this match will be but that fabulous strike from Gakpo has shown a faint ray of light in the gloomy weather conditions of Anfield. Would be nice to see Federico Chiesa shine a light and ideally get the winner in the second half.” I too would like to see more of Chiesa. Unfortunately for the Italian his chances of nudging Salah out of the side don’t seem great.
A poor half from Liverpool, but they certainly don’t deserve to end it in arrears. If they improve in the second, they should be OK.
Half-time: Liverpool 1-1 Leicester
45+3 mins: The referee adds an extra 12 seconds for the goal, and then blows his whistle with Liverpool on the attack, with the ball and around 30 yards from goal. This seems puzzling.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Leicester (Gakpo, 45+2 mins)
Gakpo curls a beauty beyond Stolarczyk and inside the far post, and Liverpool are level!
45+1 mins: The referee decides to give only two minutes of stoppage time, which doesn’t impress anyone involved with Liverpool.
45 mins: Liverpool hit the bar! Leicester make a rare foray forward, lose the ball and the home side roll forwards. It ends with Salah curling a left-footed shot towards the far post and very nearly, but not quite, getting it right.
44 mins: From the free kick, Robertson’s cross runs out of play. The crowd seems terribly quiet.
43 mins: A second yellow card, this one for Ayew who strolls in front of Gakpo as the Dutchman cuts infield, stopping his run.
42 mins: Alexander-Arnold, who’s had a poor game thus far, clumps a shot well wide and very high from 25 yards.
39 mins: Stolarczyk is pushing his luck on the restarts, I fear. For now the referee doesn’t seem bothered, but a yellow card would probably help the game.
38 mins: Liverpool have attempted 27 crosses so far, we’re told. Moments later, Alexander-Arnold sends in No28.
37 mins: The game’s first yellow card is waved at Joe Gomez, for tripping Daka.
36 mins: Leicester are defending very centrally, which explains why Liverpool are finding space wide and doing a lot of crossing. Leicester obviously trust their central defenders to win most of the headers, which for now they are doing – Liverpool are winning volleys beyond the far post.
34 mins: This time Liverpool go down the right, and Alexander-Arnold’s cross is volleyed goalwards by Robertson, but it’s a tight angle and Stolarczyk saves.
31 mins: Most of Liverpool’s best moments are coming through Gakpo on the left. This time his cross again finds Salah, but he’s stretching to hit his volley with the outside of his left foot and can’t control it.
30 mins: And they boo him again as he returns to the pitch, miraculously cured.
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