Crysencio Summerville scored a dramatic late winner as Leeds United shocked Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield on Saturday night, handing Jurgen Klopp’s side their first home Premier League loss in 30 matches.
Liverpool got off to another disastrous start after four minutes when Joe Gomez played a blind back pass to Alisson, who had moved out of his goal and slipped, leaving a gaping space for Rodrigo to run in and tap the ball into the empty net.
Mohamed Salah levelled for Liverpool 10 minutes later when Andy Robertson crossed for the Egypt international to hook a volley into the net from close range, igniting the Liverpool supporters.
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Leeds, who were winless in their past eight Premier League games, were undeterred by the equaliser and continued flying around the field, with the crossbar and some timely saves by Alisson the only things keeping Liverpool level at the break.
“It was a set-back, absolutely. I thought we had a really good start then conceded a freakish goal,” Klopp said after the match. “We scored the equaliser, but for some reason it didn’t give us the security back. We struggled to control the game and gave too many balls away.”
Klopp’s side created a total of 22 scoring chances but injuries and illness have robbed them of key players, not least in attack where they are missing Diogo Jota.
“The boys tried, we had good possession and had big chances but, in the end, if it is 1-1 and you defend the situation around the second goal like this, you leave everything open,” Klopp added.
“Harvey [Elliott] has been exceptional for us this season. He had a good start, but couldn’t keep it going. Thiago has been ill, up front the same [players] play all the time — they are the three strikers we have left.”
Liverpool were better in the second half and pushed hard for the winner, as Leeds keeper Illan Meslier kept his side in the game almost single-handedly, pulling off a superb save from Darwin Nunez in a one-on-one after 67 minutes and then clawing away a shot from the Uruguay international again 11 minutes later.
Meslier’s saves set the scene for Summerville to steal the three points with a last-gasp poacher’s finish.
On the eve of his 21st birthday, the forward snapped up a ball in the box from Patrick Bamford and quickly let fly a snap shot across Alisson and into the net for the winner.
“It’s a huge moment for me and my family,” Summerville told Sky Sports. “Scoring at Anfield is a big moment for me. It went so quick … when you’re in the box, you have to think quickly. It just happened.”
The loss follows Liverpool’s defeat at bottom side Nottingham Forest on Oct. 22 and further deepens the crisis around the struggling Merseyside club, who are ninth in the table with 16 points after 12 games.
The win takes Leeds out of the relegation zone up to 15th on 12 points.
Liverpool have league games at Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton to come before next month’s World Cup, which cannot start quickly enough as Klopp seeks to find some answers to his side’s poor form in the Premier League.
“We had problems from the first day [of the season], injury wise,” Klopp said. “Players have had to play from the first day. It’s our situation and it means we have to help ourselves, and that is what we will do.”
Information from Reuters was used in this report.