Liverpool 4 Leicester City 0 Firmin Firmino Firmino Jurgen Klopp's fantastic Reds open up 13 POINT lead at the top of the Premier League... as Roberto Firmino's double, James Milner's penalty and Trent Alexander-Arnold's brilliant strike sweep aside fruitless Foxes
- Roberto Firmino opened the scoring in the 31st minute, heading home from Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross
- Leicester conceded a penalty when the ball struck Caglar Soyuncu on the arm from a Liverpool corner
- James Milner, with his first touch coming on as a substitute, sent Schmeichel the wrong way from the spot
- Firmino got his second, and Liverpool's third, as he finished off a brilliant team move into the top corner
- Alexander-Arnold got the goal his performance deserved with a sweetly struck effort arrowed into the net The league leaders won with an ease which made a mockery of the notion that Leicester are title contenders and revealed that only Manchester City can feasibly dent a lead, extended to 13 points, which is surely unassailable now. Leicester’s certainty that they can challenge the league’s best by playing them at their own game has been soundly deconstructed in the five days which has seen City and Liverpool beat them.
Jet-fuelled by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino, Jurgen Klopp’s side had the game wrapped up in little more than an hour. The league’s second side could not muster a shot on target.
The Liverpool right back stands tall in front of the away supporters, after a goal his outstanding display very much deserved
Trent Alexander-Arnold gets on the scoresheet, cutting across the ball brilliantly as his shot nestles into the bottom corner
Roberto Firmino celebrates his second of the night with manager Jurgen Klopp as the Reds run riot at the King Power Stadium
Milner, who scored the winner against Leicester in October, celebrates with Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson
James Milner, with his first touch of the ball as a substitute, strokes in a penalty to double Liverpool's advantage
Roberto Firmino heads home the opening goal, getting to the ball ahead of Ben Chillwell and team-mate Mohamed Salah
The bragging rights have reached something approaching the realms of the ridiculous for a club who were on their knees and on the brink of financial disaster under previous ownership, just a little more than ten years ago.
‘And now you’re going to believe us, we’re champions of the world,’ their fans sang without a hint of irony.
There were echoes from Liverpool of the same profligacy that had coloured the early stages of their win over Flamengo that gave them that status in Doha, six days ago.
A Mo Salah cross skidded off Sadio Mane’s left shin and wide when the Senegalese only required a tap-in in the game’s early stages. Salah arced a shot high over the bar after Jonny Evans’ careless ball out of defence had been captured by Gigi Wijnaldum and reprocessed into a goalscoring opportunity for him.
Firmino's header from close range had too much power for Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to keep it out
The Brazilian scored for the third game running after scoring twice in Qatar during the FIFA Club World Cup last week
But Liverpool eased through the first period of what was supposedly their most stringent test without providing the slightest hint that the 9,000-mile return trip from Doha had been a burden.
The energy of Roberto Firmino, Salah and Mane required every ounce of Leicester effort to contend with. Jordan Henderson, surely the most improved player of the decade which is drawing to a close, sprayed passes in the style of Graeme Souness, with whom he is now inviting comparisons.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who drew a sharp once-handed save from Kasper Schmeichel in the game’s first minute, and Andy Robertson exploited the space in the wide areas afforded them by a Leicester side whose willingness to advance in numbers bore out Brendan Rodgers’ promise of adventure.
Comments