Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest. Premier League.
Anfield.
Match report and highlights as Mohamed Salah moves joint sixth on Liverpool's all-time scoring charts with winner; Diogo Jota double cancelled out by Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White as spirited Nottingham Forest performance comes up agonisingly short
Sunday 23 April 2023 07:10, UK
Liverpool's 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest maintained their momentum in the chase for a top-four spot as manager Jurgen Klopp stressed they have not left it too late to find their best form.
Victory made it four matches unbeaten, with back-to-back victories following two draws, and represents their joint-best run of an inconsistent campaign.
Two goals from Diogo Jota were cancelled out by former Reds defender Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White but Mohamed Salah secured victory with his 182nd goal for the club to move joint-sixth with Robbie Fowler on the club's all-time goalscorers list.
The result moved Liverpool within six of fourth-placed Newcastle, who play another Champions League-chasing rival Tottenham on Sunday, and brought up Klopp's 100th league win at Anfield.
"Today I saw a lot of top counter-pressing moments - I loved that - and that's, for us, super important. And yes, that changed," he said.
"I think we are much clearer again in that department. It feels, for us at least, that it changed. If you are solid and not only solid but really good and aggressive and positive in defending then you can build on that.
"For me, it feels like it's the first time this season that we have that - late but hopefully not too late and now we have to build on that. But the most important thing in football is obviously our results and fighting through this situation and getting three points.
"The boys are not silly - they know that we were not perfect - but they are really happy about that."
Liverpool dominated the first half with 86 per cent possession but had nothing to show for it when they reached the interval, with Keylor Navas tipping a Virgil van Dijk header over and Jota heading a glorious chance wide from close range in a half where Forest's risk averse tactics paid off.
But the Forest game plan was thrown out of the window seconds after the restart as Alexander-Arnold's corner sparked panic in the Forest six-yard box, allowing Fabinho to head the ball back across the face of goal for Jota to convert almost on the goal line.
With a chaotic second half set into motion, Williams hauled Forest level four minutes later with his driven shot deflecting off Andy Robertson before looping over Alisson Becker. But Liverpool would produce an immediate response as Jota had the freedom of the area to control Robertson's floated free-kick on his chest before volleying in his second.
After Jota was denied a hat-trick by a fingertip save from Navas, which tipped his header over the bar, Forest levelled up for a second time as Gibbs-White volleyed in a superb equaliser of his own in front of a joyous away end.
Yet again those celebrations were short-lived as Salah joined Fowler on 183 Liverpool goals by gathering Alexander-Arnold's free-kick and finding the net via the frame of the Forest goal.
Still Liverpool failed to close the back door and their former striker Taiwo Awoniyi, who scored the winner against at the City Ground in October, saw an overhead kick graze the crossbar before Johnson went even closer by rattling the woodwork.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports: "The most important thing in football is the result. I think we deserved the three points; we had the majority of the ball, around 86 per cent in the first half, which was really strange.
"We made things more difficult than they should have been, but we were patient, which we had to be. When you play against such a deep block you have to be patient, it's obviously not a game to enjoy because it only would have been an up and down game if we lost the ball.
"Their throw-ins were a massive threat, we should have done better in those situations. But having gone 1-0 up and conceding the equaliser, going 2-1 up and conceding the equaliser, and then scoring the third, it was cool, I really liked that a lot. We've got three points more than before and everything is good."
Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper told Sky Sports: "The result is the objective. We've lost, so the overriding feeling is disappointment and frustration. It happened because we didn't defend three set plays anywhere near well enough. We lost runners and not only did it once but twice from a free-kick. When you do that, you're going to get punished.
"It was always going to be a tough game, not only in the Premier League but in European football. We had a plan and a lot of that plan worked; Liverpool had lots of the ball and territory but hardly created anything from open play.
"We managed to score two goals, a goal from open play, we hit the bar, and had some moments where if we were a little bit better with the final pass and the details, we could have been even more threatening. There is a feeling of the guys doing well and sticking to the plan, but we lost the game."
After a run of 20 Premier League games without a goal, Diogo Jota has scored four goals in his last two appearances for Liverpool, and the first Reds player to net at least two goals in successive games in the competition since Mohamed Salah in November 2017.
Liverpool travel to face West Ham in the Premier League on Wednesday; kick-off 7.45pm. Nottingham Forest are at home to Brighton on the same evening at the City Ground; kick-off 7.30pm.
