On Sunday afternoon, Liverpool played their first game since Jürgen Klopp announced his decision to resign. The Reds earned a 5-2 victory over Norwich City in the FA Cup.
Curtis Jones latched onto debutant James McConnell’s cross to nod in the opener before the Canaries struck back through Ben Gibson in the first 20 minutes.
However, Liverpool took the game out of sight as the contest drew on, with Darwin Nunez restoring their lead before Diogo Jota and Virgil van Dijk added to the tally.
Borja Sainz fired home in the 69th minute to give the visitors a glimmer of hope of a comeback, but they barely got a sniff at Alisson’s goal after that, with Ryan Gravenberch instead making it five in stoppage time to put the icing on the cake.
The win allows Liverpool to progress to the fifth round of the competition, where they will face either Watford or Southampton at Anfield.
Here are four talking points from the game.
Klopp’s farewell tour begins
Today was of course the first game Liverpool have played since Jurgen Klopp shocked the footballing world and revealed that he would be leaving the club come the end of the season.
We were expecting a different atmosphere to the usual inside Anfield, and it’s safe to say we got it.
As ‘I’m so glad Jurgen is a Red’ echoed around, there was a feeling of relentlessness about this Liverpool performance. It wasn’t perfect, but with any setback came an emphatic response, squashing any hopes Norwich had of an upset.
There’s that desire to give Klopp the exit he deserves, going out the door decorated in silverware. Today was the first step towards that goal.
Super Conor Bradley
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, even though at this point it should be common knowledge. Conor Bradley could well be the catalyst that moves Trent Alexander-Arnold into midfield on a permanent basis.
An absolutely fantastic outing the young Northern Irishman, who’s tenacity and individual excellence made the second goal.
It follows a few impressive performances against the likes of Bournemouth and Fulham, and will have Jurgen Klopp scratching his head at whether or not to bring the fully-fit Alexander-Arnold back into his original position.
It’s important not to get ahead of ourselves when it comes to youngsters. But given his form, surely Bradley can’t be dropped, right?
Nunez can’t stop scoring
Darwin Nunez has been getting into his stride as of late. And there was no drop off today.
Another goal for our chaotic Uruguayan, who has been absolutely killing it up top in recent games.
Delightfully slotting home after some brilliant individual work by Bradley, he became the first player to hit double figures for non-penalty goals (10) and assists (10) across all competitions this season in the top five European leagues.
“It’s Norwich history”
Another absolute romping of the Canaries sees the Reds put five past our visitors – and despite an early scare, the game never really looked in doubt.
It could have been six, seven, maybe eight if it wasn’t for a handful of missed sitters and the odd wonder-save by keeper George Long.
Either way, it’s another five goals for the Reds against Norwich – meaning they’ve now scored 26 in their last eight outings against the Norfolk side.
You can understand why some fans were wary of making the long trip.
