Van Dijk hands Liverpool a UCL boost and reason to believe after more late drama

LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool needed that. After a season of turmoil, Liverpool needed Virgil van Dijk to rise the highest. They needed Mohamed Salah to conjure up just one more magical moment. They needed a reason to believe.

The defense of their Premier League title has largely been a campaign without joy for Arne Slot’s side, with reserves of hope seeming to dwindle by the week. But with Liverpool there is always a chance and when the chance came against Everton — this time in the 100th minute – — Van Dijk seized it with the fearlessness and fortitude of a player who knew there were more than just three points on the line.

It was fitting that, as Liverpool faced off against Everton in the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Arsenal and Manchester City were preparing to star in this weekend’s main event over at the Etihad. That Liverpool were only the warm-up act to this season’s title decider should and will sting for the reigning champions — but a last-gasp 2-1 win at the home of their local rivals will go some way to soothing the pain.

Make no mistake, this was not Liverpool at their ebullient best — far from it. But Slot’s side did, at least, show the grit and character that has evaded them for too much of this torrid campaign and, in doing so, inflicted yet more misery on an Everton team many had regarded as favorites going into this encounter.

The pre-match scenes on Merseyside left little doubt about how much this meant for Everton supporters. They lined the streets with flares and flags to greet the team coach, before unfurling an impressive Tifo banner as the players readied themselves for action.

The energy in the stands transmitted instantly to the players on the pitch and Everton hassled and harried their opponents with the fervor of a team smelling blood. Certainly, Liverpool went into Sunday’s game as a wounded beast, having bowed out of the UEFA Champions League with a 4-0 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, in the process of which they also lost striker Hugo Ekitike to a serious Achilles injury.

So when the lively Iliman Ndiaye found the back of the Liverpool net inside 27 minutes, it felt like yet another miserable prophecy was set to be fulfilled. Perhaps, though, the fates were smiling on Slot’s side, with a VAR intervention sparing the Reds’ blushes and offering them a platform to show their mettle.

Just 66 seconds later, Liverpool were ahead thanks to the brilliance of Salah, who slotted coolly past Jordan Pickford after a superb pass from Cody Gakpo. All of a sudden, it was as if the blue mist had lifted.

Salah beamed as he stood before the euphoric away end, having just tied Steven Gerrard for the most goals scored by a Liverpool player in Premier League Merseyside derbies (9). It has not been a vintage Salah season by any stretch of the imagination — and it will be his last — but the sight of the Egypt international being “crowned” by teammate Curtis Jones after carving out another slice of history felt like a poignant footnote in one of the all-time great Anfield careers.

Liverpool, though, did not have it all their own way. So often this term, they seem to have conspired to make life hard for themselves and did so again when some lackadaisical defending allowed the in-form Beto to dispatch a smart Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall delivery early in the second half. It was Beto’s sixth goal involvement in as many games, with his instinctive finish once more lighting the blue touchpaper inside Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Liverpool’s anguish was compounded by the sight of goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili leaving the pitch on the stretcher in the immediate aftermath of the goal, having sustained what Slot later described as a “big wound” to his leg. His replacement, Freddie Woodman, could hardly have asked for a more daunting arena in which to make his Premier League debut for the club, but the former Preston North End man stood firm and so did his teammates. Liverpool were not electrifying, but they did not need to be.

Instead, they hassled and harried and made life difficult for Everton, who never quite managed to wrestle back the momentum they had enjoyed during the early stages of this contest. And when, in the dying minutes of stopping time, Dominik Szoboszlai swung an enticing corner-kick into the Everton box, Van Dijk was there to apply the finishing touch.

The Dutchman’s thumping header helped yield a victory that bolsters Liverpool’s hopes of Champions League qualification, with the Reds now seven points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea with just five games left to play. More importantly, though, Van Dijk’s goal recaptured something intangible for Liverpool; the feeling that they should never quite be written off.

“It’s a privilege to represent this club and today they showed what it means to the players to represent this club,” Slot said in his postmatch news conference. “And the fans were, as they’ve been throughout the whole season, a big, big, big support for us. And to beat them then in the first game in their new stadium after what I just said, the week we had, is an enormous compliment to everybody involved in Liverpool FC.”

For Slot, the full-time whistle must have felt like a release valve — a rare moment to stop and exhale in a breathlessly bewildering season that has prompted endless speculation over his future. For those in the away end, too, this was an afternoon to savor.

As the home fans filed out of the stadium, the Liverpool supporters launched into a defiant chorus of: “Champions, Champions.” With the end of the campaign firmly on the horizon, their chances to air that refrain are now few and far between.

On Sunday, though, Liverpool seized their chance. How they needed it.