Liverpool's efficiency from set pieces bailed out their leaky defence to ensure a narrow win over relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Diogo Jota netted twice and Mohamed Salah once as Jurgen Klopp's side out-scored their opponents in a second half goalfest at Anfield. Liverpool had the better of a quiet first half before the match exploded into the life after the break.
Jota headed in the opening goal before Neco Williams' deflected strike against his old club made it 1-1. Jota's excellent finish put the Reds back in front, but it didn't last long, with Morgan Gibbs-White firing into the corner via two deflections as Liverpool failed to deal with a long throw-in.
Salah side-footed in Trent Alexander-Arnold's free-kick as Liverpool regained the lead for a third time - and this time it stuck. Taiwo Awoniyi sent an overhead kick over the bar and Brennan Johnson hit the bar, but Forest could not find a third equaliser.
Here are the talking points from an entertaining game at Anfield.
Sweeper keeper
It is Alisson’s Brazil team-mate Ederson who is better known for his anticipation and ability to sweep up behind his defence, but the Liverpool goalkeeper appears to be following in his footsteps.
With Alexander-Arnold drifting into midfield while Liverpool are in possession, Ibrahima Konate is tasked with spreading wider into the right channel. A knock-on effect is that Alisson moves further up to help Virgil van Dijk deal with balls in behind.
Alisson’s focus on coming out of his area to snuff out danger was clear when he headed away a Forest free-kick on the edge of his box. The flag went up for offside anyway, but it was an interesting case study of the keeper’s new-found intentions.
Throw-ins cause havoc
Forest’s first goal will be watched back many, many times by Liverpool’s analysis team. And they will rightly be furious with it, because it was completely avoidable.
A throw-in close to the halfway line should not be resulting in a goal and the ease with which it happened is a good illustration of where the Reds’ defence is at currently. The ball was held up easily from the throw-in, laid off to an onrushing midfielder and spread to Williams, who was in acres of space on the other side of the pitch.
The way his shot cannoned off Robertson and beat Alisson was unfortunate, but everything leading up to it was symptomatic of Liverpool’s woes at the back. And it got even worse, with Gibbs-White's goal coming from a simple flick-on from a long throw and it found the net via two deflections, off Konate and Alexander-Arnold.
Awoniyi came close with a brilliant improvised overhead kick, which once again came from a throw-in.
Hotshot Jota
He has spent most of this season frustrated by injuries, but Jota now looks back to his sharp best in front of goal. The Portuguese forward netted twice in the 6-1 mauling of Leeds last time out and was similarly effective against Forest.
His first goal showed his predatory instincts: he was on the move across the six-yard box, anticipating where the ball would end up and was rewarded by Fabinho’s header into his path.
The second was even more pleasing. Jota ran off his marker from a deep free-kick, controlled the ball expertly with his chest and knee and fired into the bottom corner with his left foot on the volley. After 19 matches without a goal this season, he now has four in two.
Set pieces to the rescue
Liverpool were far from at their free-flowing best, but they looked a constant threat from Alexander-Arnold’s set pieces.
Keylor Nevas was forced into a good dave from Van Dijk and Jota missed a simple chance at the back post in the first half before their weight of chances told in the second half.
Jota stole a march to open the scoring and lost his man for the second before Alexander-Arnold got his assist from Salah’s side-footed finish.
Forest in trouble
Steve Cooper's side are in the relegation zone and facing a nervy conclusion to the season. They are now without a win in 11 Premier League games - stretching back to a 1-0 victory against Leeds on February 5 - and are drifting in the wrong direction.
They caused Liverpool lots of problems in this match, with their long throw-ins particularly effective. But that simply isn't enough at the moment, with their top-flight status on the line. They are now in 19th place, a point behind Leicester and Everton.
Leicester's win over Wolves and Everton's draw at Crystal Palace have compounded things and made the next games, against Brighton, Brentford and, in particular, Southampton absolutely huge.
