It was touch and go for Liverpool, but they are UEFA Super Cup winners for the fourth time, following a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in Istanbul.
A Jorginho penalty in extra-time took the game into a shootout, where Adrian was the hero after saving the fifth and final spot-kick from Tammy Abraham.
Once Jordan Henderson had lifted the trophy, Read Liverpool trio Tristan Fitzpatrick, Ste Hoare and Will Woodward discussed the game:
Adrian was the hero in the end, but he almost became the villain. How did he do in his full debut?
Will : I thought Adrian was fine in general. He made a couple of good saves, could’ve done better for the goal and the penalty looked harsh. Ultimately, he was the shootout hero.
Ste: I thought he did pretty well but there are a few things that worry me. We’ll discuss the merits of the penalty later but contact or not, it was a sloppy bit of play from the goalkeeper and a few things bounced off him. He’s a backup keeper for a reason, though, so we can’t expect Alisson-esque perfection. He made some good saves and wasn’t a liability.
Tristan: I agree with you both. He made a tidy save to stop Pedro early on, and for someone who’s only just arrived on Merseyside and has been thrown in at the deep end, it was about as good as you can hope for.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came in for Roberto Firmino and Joe Gomez replaced Trent Alexander Arnold – did Jurgen Klopp get his selection right?
Ste: On the basis of the first half performance, you’d say no, but the manager is looking ahead to other games, which is sensible. The shape in the first half was really poor and we deserved to be trailing at half-time.
Tristan: We did look poor in the first half but I think that was partly down to fatigue, which maybe Klopp was managing. That being said, Ox was invisible and Firmino made such a difference coming on. It made more sense in my mind to stick with Divock Origi.
Will: Ox looked lost and was barely in the game, while Gomez didn’t get out of his own half. So no, I don’t think he got it right, but it JUST about worked out in the end.
Adrian was adjudged to have brought down Abraham in the box, leading to the goal that forced the shootout. Was it a penalty for you?
Ste: Absolutely not. I can actually understand the referee giving it but the fact that it wasn’t overturned actually makes a farce of VAR. BT Sport had camera angles that proved it was a dive but VAR didn’t, which is ridiculous.
Will: I’ve seen a few angles of the pen now and I can’t be 100 percent sure still, but it did look VERY soft.
Tristian: Not for me. Abraham kicked the ball away from goal, and while Adrian was a little clumsy, he clearly pulls out of the challenge and Abraham just drags his feet and falls.
Like Ste says, I think VAR should have a look at that. To me, that’s not a clear penalty and I at least expected a second look. Justice was done in the end, though.
Are you worried about fatigue ahead of Saturday’s trip to Southampton?
Tristan: I am, if I’m honest. The start to this season as been rapid – we all know about the Copa America and African Cup of Nations, and now with Alisson out, and Keita likely too, you have to be worried about Mohamed Salah, Mane and Firmino.
When those three weren’t all on the field we looked out of sorts, but can Klopp risk starting all of them on Saturday? It’s important to grind out results from now until September.
Will: Yes, a bit worried about Southampton so soon after this.
Ste: That’s the main worry now. A big away game on Saturday after extra-time in the heat of Turkey will not be easy. We had a few players dead on their feet and picking a fit team for the Southampton game will be tough. We’ll simply have to grind out a win there.
Finally, were the Reds deserving winners tonight?
Ste: In my heart of hearts, I’d have to say no to be honest. Not that I thought Chelsea were better, but it was an even game and it’s hard to split the sides.
I actually think Chelsea’s first four penalties were better than ours, but thankfully, Kepa didn’t do enough to keep out the spot-kicks from Origi and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Tristan: That’s fair, but I think they were lucky to get their penalty in extra-time so I’m going to say we just edged it. Although we probably had a better performance in the Community Shield and lost that.
Will: It was very even tonight. You couldn’t really argue if either team would’ve won. But we got it done in the end and I’ll take it!
