A day after Liverpool crashed out of the League Cup, they carried through to the Fifa Club World Cup final.
Where the European champions’ youth side came a cropper at Aston Villa, the senior team crafted just about enough to see off Monterrey in Doha.
It took an injury-time winner to do it. Substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold set up fellow non-starter Roberto Firmino, and Liverpool sent their Mexican opponents packing.
A 2-1 victory was expected but exacting. Once the dust had settled, Liverpool had advanced to a showpiece showdown on Saturday with Brazil’s Flamengo, where the Premier League leaders will need to vastly improve.
It all began pretty well on Wednesday. About 12 minutes in, Liverpool made their mark.
Mohamed Salah’s inventive and incisive reverse pass released Naby Keita, who finished expertly.
It continued a trend: the midfielder had struck in a third successive appearance, as many as he managed through the whole of last season.
But Liverpool’s lead was short-lived and two minutes later, the English side failed to deal with a free kick.
Alisson saved well from Jesus Gallardo’s volley but could not prevent Rogelio Funes Mori sliding the ball into the empty net for his 100th goal with the club.
From there, James Milner, making his 200th appearance for Liverpool, forced a strong save at close range from Marcelo Barovero in the Mexican goal, while Alisson had to twice repel Dorlan Pabon. The first required firm wrists.
Liverpool obviously missed Virgil van Dijk, the Dutch defender struck down by illness.
His absence prompted Jurgen Klopp to rejig his back line. Captain Jordan Henderson filled in alongside Joe Gomez, a central midfielder taking his turn as centre back. To his right, Milner started instead of Alexander-Arnold.
Pabon would test Alisson again, not long into the second half; first, through a whipped free kick from the edge of the Liverpool penalty area, then from range on the right.
Although obvious underdogs, Monterrey’s threat was evident. At the other end, Keita slalomed past a couple of opponents, but fired straight at Barovero.
By then, Klopp had clearly seen enough. Sadio Mane was introduced, much to the delight of most inside the Khalifa International Stadium. But still Alisson had to stand firm as Monterrey sensed an upset.
With 15 minutes remaining, Liverpool should have seized back their advantage. But Divock Origi snatched at Milner’s centre, the ball ricocheting off Mane on its way beyond the byline.
Moments later, Klopp and Antonio Mohamed, the Monterrey manager, were booked for verbals on the touchline.
With extra-time looming, Liverpool found that additional quality. Alexander-Arnold's low cross was turned in by Firmino, and the favourites' immediate future was forged.
On Saturday, they can become champions of the world.
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')
Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')
Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
How do Sim card scams work?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
THE BIG MATCH
Arsenal v Manchester City,
Sunday, Emirates Stadium, 6.30pm
