In the clash of the clubs from the banks of the Mersey and the Clyde, the real winner was Trent. Mohamed Salah scored with nonchalant ease but Trent Alexander-Arnold set Liverpool on a path to victory they were expected to get. Perhaps he affected a swift transformation from scapegoat to top dog and certainly his celebration of a cathartic goal had an air of vindication.
Whether a brilliant free kick was an eloquent response to criticism or simply a demonstration of the gifts that make him a unique right-back, it brought him respite on an evening that ended not with another inquest, but a standing ovation.
