Neil Mellor has made an impassioned defence of one Liverpool player who’s come in for criticism following the 3-3 draw against Newcastle on Wednesday night.
Caoimhin Kelleher was deemed culpable by many fans and pundits for a misjudgment which allowed Fabian Schar to score a 90th-minute equaliser at St James’ Park, with the Reds goalkeeper allowing the ball to drift away from him and into the path of the Swiss defender.
Ian Wright said on a watchalong for The Overlap that the Republic of Ireland international had a ‘nightmare‘, and the 26-year-old has unfortunately been subjected to some scathing opinions on social media.
Mellor sticks up for ‘superb’ Kelleher
However, Mellor has jumped to the defence of the Liverpool ‘keeper by highlighting an important save he made earlier in the match, and also pointing out how brilliant he’s been while covering for Alisson Becker over the past two months.
The former Reds striker posted on X this morning: “Kelleher has been superb for Liverpool. Yes he made an error which led to the late equaliser last night but don’t forget, he made a brilliant save in 38th minute to stop Newcastle going 2-0 up! We may have got nothing from game had that gone in. Top goalie.”
Kelleher has been superb for Liverpool. Yes he made an error which led to the late equaliser last night but don’t forget…
He made a brilliant save in 38th minute to stop Newcastle going 2-0 up! We may have got nothing from game had that gone in.
Top goalie 👏🧤 #Kelleher #LFC pic.twitter.com/iSsRFhlipT
— Neil Mellor (@NeilMellor33) December 5, 2024
Mellor is right – Kelleher’s been excellent all along
Neil Mellor jumped to Caoimhin Kelleher's defence after the goalkeeper's error against Newcastle
(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
We couldn’t agree more with Mellor here – one misjudgement from Kelleher shouldn’t be allowed to discolour his consistently outstanding performances since October.
The ex-Liverpool forward was also right to reference the first-half save from Anthony Gordon after the Newcastle winger had pickpocketed Joe Gomez, which came just three minutes after Alexander Isak had broken the deadlock.
If the Reds had gone 2-0 behind to quickfire goals shortly before the interval, the game could’ve taken on a rather different complexion, and even the best goalkeepers in the world will be guilty of mistakes on occasion.
Unfortunately for Kelleher, Arne Slot has declared that Alisson will resume his place in the starting XI once he’s fully fit, which is expected to be before the end of this month.
We hope that the Liverpool boss keeps faith in the Irishman for the Merseyside derby on Saturday and doesn’t disregard the many excellent saves that the 26-year-old has made throughout the season so far. Plenty of true Reds fans haven’t forgotten his contributions in recent weeks.