Curtis Jones scored twice to lead Liverpool to a 3-0 victory at the King Power Stadium on Monday, allowing the Reds to keep alive their hopes of playing in the Champions League the following year while also bringing Leicester one step closer to relegation to the Championship.
With this incredible goal, Trent Alexander-Arnold capped off another outstanding performance for Liverpool in his new hybrid role between right back and midfield. The goal helped Liverpool go within one point of the top four teams in the league.
The team managed by Jurgen Klopp still needs a late-season collapse from either Newcastle or Manchester United, but a seven-game winning streak from the Reds has increased the pressure on their competitors, who each have three games remaining compared to Liverpool’s two games left in the season.
“It’s all we can do,” remarked Klopp, the manager of the team. “It would be a terrible loss for us if they were to fall when we were not there. Therefore, we need to carry out our duties.
“I believe that we have qualified for European football, which was not in sight for us six weeks ago.”
It has been seven years since Leicester stunned the world by winning the title, and the club’s days in the Premier League appear to be numbered as they are still two points away from safety with two games left to play.
They will face yet another difficult challenge on Monday, when they make the trip to Newcastle to compete in a contest that has the potential to decide their fate if Everton or Leeds prevail over the course of the weekend.
“It’s pretty simple, we need to win our next game,” stated Dean Smith, the temporary manager of Leicester’s football team. “Things are about to become difficult at St. James’ Park. It would be wonderful to be in charge for a change.”
After a strong start by the home team, which was quickly forgotten as Jones scored twice in the span of three minutes just after the half-hour mark, the defensive vulnerabilities of the Foxes were once again brought to light.
Luis Diaz was given the opportunity to rush onto a long pass forward that Alisson Becker had thrown before the play broke down and Mohamed Salah crossed the ball for Jermaine Jones, who was unmarked, to score the first goal at the far post.
Again, a few seconds later, Salah was the one to deliver the assist for Jones, who made a superb touch to handle the ball and finish it past a hapless Daniel Iversen.
“I thought the second goal looked like we had frazzled minds from the kick-off,” continued Smith. “I thought it looked like we had frazzled minds from the beginning.”
“We need to be able to think more clearly and have clearer minds under pressure.”
The home audience rapidly turned against their own team, and there were boos when Cody Gakpo had a wonderful opportunity to make it 3-0 but shot straight at Iversen instead of the goal.
Even while scoring goals has not been an issue for Leicester this season, they appeared to be lacking in offensive creativity as belief eroded among Smith’s players.
Alexander-Arnold’s transition into his new position as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield while Liverpool is in possession of the ball has coincided with the team’s turnaround in form following a challenging season.
After Salah deflected a free kick into his path 19 minutes from the end of the match, the England international demonstrated his skill on the ball with a magnificent drive into the top corner of the goal.
The Egyptian should have scored the routine goal that would have complemented his hat trick of assists.
Gakpo put Salah in a position to score when he was sent clean through on goal, but Salah shot wide with just Iversen to beat, much to the surprise of the majority of those inside the stadium.
Given that Liverpool is now four goals behind Newcastle in terms of goal differential, that omission has the potential to end up being significant.
However, the away team completed the primary objective by securing another three points, which ensured that they will participate in the Europa League the following year.