Usually, whenever a team scores a goal in the dying moments of the game, players go mad in their celebrations. Such wins are the best feeling to hold if you are on the winning side of the match. A similar outcome was seen for Liverpool when they faced Fulham in gameweek 14 of the Premier League.
On December 3rd, 2023 Liverpool hosted a Premier League game against Fulham at Anfield, wherein fans were held to an ecstatic match which resulted in favour of Liverpool by 4 goals to 3. During this match, the fans were held to some fantastic goals, high drama, and a Sunday afternoon to be pleased with the type of game.
Liverpool managed to grab a lead with Bernt Leno’s own goal from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick in the opening 20 minutes, but soon after Fulham grabbed an equalizer with Harry Wilson. After which in the 38th minute Alexis Mac Allister shocked the fans with a thunderous 30-yard screamer, but just before the half-time whistle Fulham bagged an equalizer yet again via Kenny Tete.
Missed yesterday's spectacular match, no tap-ins or close range goals, but goals worthy of atleast the 'goal of the month' award.
Great to Trent inspiring Liverpool like Gerrard, Macallister founding the net for 1st time, and Endo again surprising us with his scoring prowess. pic.twitter.com/LSGIPdyi2D
— ₹∆#-_-L (@pahadiscouser) December 4, 2023
After which Liverpool fully dominated the play but wasn’t able to score because of solid defense by the Fulham defenders. In the 80th minute, Fulham fans thought they had grabbed a late win at Anfield by Bobby De Cordova-Reid, but their celebrations were halted in the 87th minute with yet another 25-yard screamer from Wataru Endo.
With this equalizer, Liverpool looked to end the game as soon as possible, soon after Endo’s goal, Anfield rocked up as they got to see a fabulous half-volley by Trent Alexander-Arnold just a minute after the previous goal.
During this late winner, as Trent Alexander-Arnold went to celebrate with the fans, Virgil Van Dijk also celebrated. While doing his celebration, he thought to do a knee slide as most players usually do after such a late winner. But as he was doing a knee slide he went on to face a cut on his knees which he doesn’t like.
🔴😄 Alexander-Arnold: “Virgil Van Dijk is not happy with me! He’s got a cut on his knee! That’s why he doesn’t knee slide”.
“For somebody like him who’s very calm to be the one that’s knee sliding when he’s not even the one that scored… shows how much it meant to the team”. pic.twitter.com/invXc88WjN
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 4, 2023
Related to this moment, during the post-match interview Trent was asked about this incident and was asked why was Van Dijk not happy with Trent even after Liverpool had grabbed a crucial 3-point in their charge to the Premier League title.
In correlation to this incident, Trent answered, “Virgil Van Dijk is not happy with me! He’s got a cut on his knee! That’s why he doesn’t knee slide”. He followed it to explain why doesn’t Van Dijk usually celebrate with knee slides, “For somebody like him who’s very calm to be the one that’s knee sliding when he’s not even the one that scored… shows how much it meant to the team”.
Can Trent Master Both Assists and Goals on His Way to Greatness?
Trent Alexander-Arnold is usually known for his creativity within the Liverpool squad. Recently, it is looking like he has been adding goalscoring to his play style as well. Having managed to score in 2 consecutive Premier League matches for the first time in his career, he showcases why Trent has been one of if not the main reasons for Liverpool’s successful spell of era under Jurgen Klopp.
Every season, Trent has been delivering Liverpool with assists after assists, as so far in his career he has already managed to provide his team with 76 assists in 290 matches across all competitions coming from a right-back position.
From his Debut goal, to many screamers, to 75 assists, to his goal that silenced the Etihad
Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of those players who has been consistently good since his debut.
generational. ✨ pic.twitter.com/wPwHTNHlvW
— Liam 💫 (@LiamMLFC) November 27, 2023
With this excellent record, this season he has been transformed even further by Jurgen Klopp. This season so far, he has been handed to play a new role within this Liverpool team. He has been instructed to be inverted into the midfield as the team progresses to move forward in attack.
Coming from this role change he has finally managed to strike the knowledge of how to play in this role, as he has helped Liverpool in grabbing vital points in their previous two matches against both Manchester City and Fulham. Liverpool is currently in 2nd place in the Premier League, just 2 points behind Arsenal, with a draw against Man City and a win against Fulham.