A near post header from Ragnar Klavan right in the dying minutes of the game secured a much-needed victory for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool against a stern Burnley unit, who were coming on the back of a 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
Jurgen Klopp had made seven whopping changes to his starting eleven with Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho being the major absentees. Furthermore, Roberto Firmino was dropped from the starting XI as well, with Dominic Solanke given the nod alongside Sadio Mane. Adam Lallana, on the other hand, made his first Premier League start of the season and the Englishman performed decently, to say the least.
With only Sadio Mane playing from the ‘Fab Four’, scoring against a Burnley unit was always going to be a difficult task and Liverpool learned it the hard way. Despite enjoying the majority of possession (58), Liverpool could only manage 5 shots on target, just one more than Burnley, out of the attempted 18. It was deadlock by the stroke of half-time but Sadio Mane, early in the second half, gave Liverpool a well-deserved lead with an absolute belter.
Receiving the ball near the edge of the area, the Senegalese fired a venomous hit with his left foot which nearly ripped the rigging. As the game approached its final five minutes, Burnley scored the equaliser with Johann Berg Gudmundsson heading in from close range after Sam Vokes headed the ball into his way. However, as it looked like the teams would share the stakes, Ragnar Klavan scored the winner right at the death after Dejan Lovren teed the Estonian up from Chamberlain’s free-kick.
A victory means Liverpool remain at 4th place in the table. Having said that, Liverpool fans went into a frenzy and this is how they reacted:
GIVE KLAVAN THE FUCKING BALLON’DOR!!!!
— MJ (@TheGrxatest) January 1, 2018
— James (@_lfcjay) January 1, 2018
SEND VAN DIJK BACK TO SOUTHAMPTON pic.twitter.com/5XA7Vpx6Im
— Matthew Ordish (@MattOrdish) January 1, 2018
KLAVAN FOR PRESIDENT
— ¹⁰ (@CoutinhoPrime) January 1, 2018
ANNOUNCE KLAVAN CONTRACT EXTENSION
— Bobby (@COUTlNHOLFC) January 1, 2018
who needs salah pic.twitter.com/RacN0TlSK9
— dan (@AImightyDan) January 1, 2018
Who needs VVD when we have this man!!! pic.twitter.com/3i7ZItj5JL
— Tas Mavridis (@tasmavridis97) January 1, 2018
Klopp is poor game manager! Burnley got the momentum after Mane was taken off
— Ben Maina (@benjizworld) January 1, 2018
Klavan 750 million
— Ningen (@jame_woof) January 1, 2018
VIRGIL VAN WHO?
— ¹⁰ (@CoutinhoPrime) January 1, 2018
Klavan in the changing room pic.twitter.com/eeqHAQ9R3Y
— Fahim-Uz Zaman (@zamanfahimuz) January 1, 2018
Raggy Maldini ❤️
— BD (@Berno_la) January 1, 2018
KLAVAN > VIRGIL
— Ben (@BossLikeBobby) January 1, 2018
WHO THE FUCK IS VAN DIJK
— Stephen (@SteLindellLFC) January 1, 2018
Klavan has more goals than Lukaku in 2018
Klavan £5 million
Lukakau £90 million
Say what you will but facts are facts ♂️ #LFC
— Ben • (@Riddock__) January 1, 2018
Klavan has more goals than Messi & Ronaldo combined in 2018.
— – (@lfcrealtalk) January 1, 2018
Lovren assisting a Klavan goal for a last minute winner pic.twitter.com/E5dK6HR7mI
— Sam McGuire (@SamMcGuire90) January 1, 2018
