SuperSub Shaqiri Pops a Pair as The 'Pool Mops Up Man Utd

Published on 16-Dec-2018 by srijan213

Soccer    Soccer Daily Update

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SuperSub Shaqiri Pops a Pair as The 'Pool Mops Up Man Utd

How do these two stats show up for the same side in the same match:

  • Liverpool rifled an incredible 36 shots against Manchester United, and 11 of them were on target, but
  • It took a pair of late-game deflections by a 70th-minute sub to secure the Reds' 3-1 victory.

Jürgen Klopp surely felt all warm and fuzzy for these three points, as his side well and truly deserved them.

As to the Special One, José Mourinho had to admire the valiance of David de Gea amid the smoldering embers of what is now a lost season.

 

The first shock in this one was something no one expected, and that was Liverpool's physical dominance against their vaunted guests.

This may have been a clash of Premiership titans, but the Devils were fortunate this wasn't an MMA bout. They would've been choked out in the opening minutes.

 

For Mourinho, though, not so much. But more might be on the way.

Dude probably should've known this was gonna be one of those days when his crew were the first to move twine, but it was waved off when stalwart Romelu Lukaku was ruled to be offside. Otherwise, it would've risen their shots-on-goal total for the game to a measly three.

 

Exactly.

From that point onward, it was virtually all Liverpool.

The fireworks began in earnest when, in the 24th minute, Sadio Mané was spotted in the danger zone by Fabinho. The Senegalese international displayed a couple of classy moves before firing home through what ice hockey players call the five-hole:

 

That was almost enough to hope a financial services sponsor would come up with a football version of this classic commercial:

 

Liverpool's only real mistake on the day resulted in an early consolation goal.

In the 33rd, Lukaku's cross from the left was intercepted by Alisson Becker, who inexplicably dimed it to Jesse Lingard. The English international accepted Alisson's Christmas gift and slotted home:

 

After the break, Mourinho introduced Marouane Fellaini, which didn't do anything to stem the Red tide.

However, he did sail in an entry for worst shot of the season:

 

Someone could've at least told that dude a handball call wasn't on the cards.

Meanwhile, when Klopp introduced Xherdan Shaqiri, the game kinda changed. 

Only three minutes into his run, Liverpool regained their lead. as Mané took possession on the left, dribbled around Victor Lindelof, and uncorked a cross that was flicked away by de Gea. However, Shaqiri came up with the ball and drilled a heatseeker that redirected off Ashley Young, which gave the Spanish 'keep no chance for a save:

 

Then, seven minutes after that, the 'Pool wrapped things up with another Shaqiri deflection.

Roberto Firmino tried a pass to Mohamed Salah on the edge of the box. It traveled through the Egyptian, though, and wound up being an assist to the Swiss international, whose rocket nicked off Eric Bailly to the point that de Gea had no time to adjust:

 

This literal tour de force vaulted the Reds back to the Premiership's top spot:

On the other hand, in everyday terms, United's damn near 10 games off the pace and almost 4 games from a spot in Europe.

Looks like they'd better win the FA Cup.

The piercing question now is, who's gonna be on the touchline to lead them?

Click on a photo to enlarge.