By the end, Alisson was trying to waste time. Sadio Mané was listlessly dribbling the ball into the corner in an attempt to burn away a few more seconds. Deep into injury time Naby Keïta started rolling around on the turf in apparent agony. Was it a cruciate? A broken leg? A debilitating muscle tear that would put him out for the season? Happily, as a victorious Keïta disappeared into the embrace of his teammates just a few seconds later, we have to conclude that he may just survive the night.
Curiously, given his famously forthright views on teams adopting cynical tactics in an attempt to win games, Jürgen Klopp had very little to say about any of this afterwards. But then, perhaps it was understandable that aesthetics would be the last thing on his mind at Villa Park. This was the sort of win you have to extract like one of your own teeth, the sort of win that almost feels too debasing to truly celebrate, the sort of win you pull out on the day your title rivals sign Erling Haaland for next season.
