Five days after Liverpool were let down by a major mess-up by VAR against Tottenham, the Reds were the beneficiaries of a huge error, prompting debate and back and forth about replaying matches and reforming refereeing.
While Diogo Jota’s late winner helped seal the deal, it was Union Saint-Gilloise goalkeeper Anthony Moris’s disastrous blunder that finally swung the match in Liverpool’s favor.
With the knowledge that he has cost his club dearly, the Luxembourg international will depart Anfield. The Belgian league leaders were undefeated on five European away days previous season.
Moris has made a lot of great saves, but this time it was a harmless shot right at his belly button that he couldn’t handle.
Ryan Gravenberch scored his first goal for Liverpool with a tap-in after the goalkeeper lost track of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s weak long-range attempt. The Dutchman was the best player by a country mile.
When compared to the over £115 million the Reds almost spent on Moises Caicedo, the £34 million the Reds spent to sign Gravenberch from Bayern Munich on Deadline Day seems like a steal. What’s his status at Chelsea like?
It’s not hard to see how talented Ryan is, as Jurgen Klopp put it.
He seems to be having a good time in this setting. Gradually, with growing self-assurance. He’s right at home with the rest of the team’s demographic.
When asked if his squad was distracted by the VAR discussion, Klopp said, “We are over it.” We’re not like, kids or anything. Regarding concentration, it was not an issue.
For Liverpool, he is the first player since Milan Baros in September 2002 to do so in his first three starts across all competitions.
And Gravenberch has now equaled Jordan Henderson’s season-long goal contribution total with only three starts.
Gravenberch, at just 21 years old, was a hive of activity all over the field, making blazing runs into the middle and displaying deft link-up play on the flanks of the goal.
He helped out defensively well off the ball and almost added to his tally of one goal, but for the acrobatics of goalkeeper Moris.
It was only appropriate that the match began with a goal disallowed for Liverpool, given the week’s preoccupation with offsides and video review. This time, there’s no room for discussion; it’s obvious that Darwin Nunez was offside when he scored on a close-range tap-in.
Minutes later, Mo Salah set up the Uruguayan again, but this time he shot high and wide from six yards out. Salah had a golden opportunity of his own after being sent through on goal by Jarell Quansah’s clearance-cum-pass, but Moris made a great stop.
After Gravenberch scored at the end of the first half, Moris made a number of additional key saves. Union Saint-Gilloise’s defense held strong, preventing goals from Diogo Jota, Nunez, and Curtis Jones.
In Belgium, Kevin Mac Allister, brother of Alexis Mac Allister (yep, he is named after the figure), played for the league-leading Union Saint-Gilloise, who benefited from investments from Brighton supremo Tony Bloom and enjoyed rare periods of success.
After 26 minutes, their finest chance came when an unmarked Gustaf Nilsson was on the receiving end of a set piece, but he headed high and wide from five yards out. In a breakaway on goal, Mohammed Amoura rounded Alisson but was cleaned up by Ibrahima Konate.
The 20-year-old Jarell Quansah also had a strong performance.
According to Klopp, “it was not a tough choice for us (to play him). We have a great team, but he will still play significant minutes. Observing him is a pleasure. When he has the ball at his feet, he is an amazing football player.
After wishing he could see both of his boys play at the same time, Carlos Mac Allister was able to do so when Alexis was substituted in after halftime. The South American hot drink mate was shared amongst the brothers before the game.
The Liverpool midfielder, who has a photo of himself kissing the World Cup trophy on his phone backdrop from last December, exhibited the grace that led Argentina to its victory. He sent an excellent cross, but Moris was able to block Diogo Jota’s header.
On the hour mark, Gravenberch created some space for himself and tried to curl a shot into the top corner, but the keeper had to be at full stretch once more to prevent a second goal of the night.
Liverpool’s substitute Luis Diaz was passed through on goal but couldn’t convert, missing a golden opportunity to win the game for his team.
After all the hype surrounding his nonexistent goal, the fact that the Colombian appeared to be slightly offside was really rather funny. Even Curtis Jones came so close.
But it was not until the closing seconds of the second half that Liverpool sealed the deal. Union blew a great opportunity with a few of sloppy touches, and then Jota raced away and calmly converted on the other end.