• Firmino scores 91st-minute goal to set up final against Flamengo
Different continent, different competition, same old Liverpool. The Club World Cup semi-final proved a complication for the European champions but Roberto Firmino found a familiar solution with a stoppage time winner against Monterrey. “Staying on track is part of our game,” said Jürgen Klopp. The track leads to a final with Flamengo on Saturday, and the chance to be crowned best in the world for the first time.
The importance of the competition was writ large on the devastated faces of the Monterrey players after Firmino tapped home an intelligent cross from his fellow substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold to seal a slender and difficult victory. Liverpool were disrupted by illness and injury and grateful for Alisson’s commanding presence on the big occasion once again. Klopp’s team were also left in no doubt they must raise their game considerably against the Copa Libertadores champions to make the journey to Qatar, with all its complications and ramifications back home, worthwhile.
Written by Andy Hunter at the Khalifa International Stadium, Doha
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/dec/18/monterrey-liverpool-fifa-club-world-cup-semi-final-match-report under the title “Firmino’s last-gasp winner sends Liverpool into Club World Cup final”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
