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Liverpool earned a 2-1 victory over Everton in the Merseyside derby.
Arne Slot says he had no fears when 11 minutes of stoppage-time were signalled in the Merseyside derby - as it came to Liverpool’s rescue.
Virgil van Dijk’s 100th-minute header earned the Reds a 2-1 win over Everton as the fierce rivals met at Hill Dickinson Stadium for the first time.
Mo Salah gave Liverpool the lead in the 29th minute before that was cancelled out by Beto’s strike in second period. Injuries suffered by Reds goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili - picked up when Beto netted - and Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite meant that there were 11 minutes of added-time signalled.
Liverpool’s vulnerability to conceding late goals have been well documented this term. Yet they used the stoppage-time to their advanatge, with Dominik Szoboszlai’s header being powered home by Van Dijk.
The Reds’ victory moved them seven points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea in the pursuit of Champions League qualification. Liverpool head coach Slot said: “If I'm correct – but maybe I'm saying something wrong now – it's been a while since we conceded in extra time. So, at this moment of time, when I see the board going up for extra time, that's not my first thought. And when I looked at my players it was definitely not my first thought, because I think in that spell we were getting closer and closer to scoring a goal.
That's an unbelievable compliment towards these players because we've played five games in 15 days with mainly the same players. We had to finish the game without a right full-back and started it without a right full-back. By the way, he did really well [there], Curtis Jones. With our third goalkeeper, with a No.9 that has played there in the past but is usually known as a right winger. And then to show what they showed is a big, big, big compliment to the mentality of this team.”
Liverpool’s win arrived against the backdrop of exiting the Champions League quarter-finals at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain. The Reds were also eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester City earlier this season.
Slot added: “I don't think we've had a lot of big moments yet this season – and when we had these big moments, because we scored earlier in extra time of extra time, but then we were able to concede afterwards. So, we haven't felt a lot of joy this season, yet. I completely agree with Virgil this season has not been of our standards.
“Going out in the quarter-final of the FA Cup and the Champions League against, from open play, the two best teams in the world, with two great managers, with unlimited resources, that can happen, let's put it that way. But in the league, of course, we are far from where we want to be but we have to accept that situation because we've dropped so many points after playing in Europe.
“That's why it's also nice now, after a game in Europe, not to concede in the last minute but to score, after a game in Europe, the winner in extra time from a set-piece, which you maybe would expect them to score from, but we did.”
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