Liverpool’s $200m flop silences ‘can’t score’ critics with huge goal
Updated . First published at
Liverpool look likelier to win the Champions League than the Premier League this season after maintaining their perfect record in Europe’s premier competition on Wednesday (AEDT).
The Reds came from 2-0 down to beat Villarreal 4-3 in a wildly fluctuating and entertaining clash at Anfield.
Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz celebrates after scoring his side’s fourth goal. AP Photo/Ian Hodgson
It meant Liverpool kept pace at the top-of-the-table with two-time defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, who have also won their opening three games.
Liverpool is fifth in the Premier League, already nine points behind leaders Manchester City after seven matches.
Early goals to striker Georges Mikautadze and left back Sergi Cardona had Villarreal on track for a big road upset in the first half.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk held up his hands in apology after his wayward header allowed Mikautadze to score the opener.
But Alexis Mac Allister had other ideas, as the Liverpool midfielder scored a brace and Ronald Araújo and Florian Wirtz also got on the scoresheet.
Wirtz’s 68th minute goal proved decisive given Tani Oluwaseyi gave the hosts a late scare with a 87th minute strike.
Wirtz’s teammates mobbed him in celebration after the composed left-foot finish.
The goal may also - at least temporarily - silence some of the German’s many critics, who had questioned his future at Liverpool before the match.
“I know how talented he is and what he is capable of, but I think he has lost all confidence and all belief in his abilities,” Reds great Dietmar Hamann told Givemesport.
“I don’t think he believes he can succeed in the Premier League. I see no future for Wirtz at Liverpool.”
The club paid Bayer Leverkusen $200 million for the playmaker in 2025.
Florian Wirtz of Liverpool scores his team’s fourth goal. Getty Images
Wirtz’s goal against Villarreal was his eighth in 59 games for Liverpool.
“People really wanted him to succeed,” Carragher told Hamann & Stankovic, calling him a “great guy” who “doesn’t score goals” before the Villarreal match.
“He never looks like he could score a goal in a game,” he said.
Liverpool’s 18-year-old whiz-kid Rio Ngumoha was also superb, providing assists for Araújo and Mac Allister and winning player of the match.
Reds great Robbie Fowler called for Ngumoha to start in Monday’s (AEDT) massive Premier League clash with third-placed Brighton at Anfield.
“Definitely one of the best games I played. I enjoyed it. Whenever I get the ball and go one v one, the more it makes the opposition worried,” he said.
Ngumoha became the youngest Englishman to provide an assist in the Champions League.
“Records are amazing to break. This stadium, we have the best fans. To hear my name being chanted is a dream.”
At Parc des Princes, PSG beat Barcelona 4-2 in a glamour clash despite Lamine Yamal’s superbly taken goal which had levelled the score at 2-2.
Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz quickly stepped up with late goals to ensure another PSG victory.
Football’s new home, Stan Sport, is the only place to watch the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, WSL, J.League, NWSL and K League
