Up and AT 'em but Reds need yet another late show

FROM START TO FINISH, SLOT'S SIDE SERVE UP THE DRAMA AGAIN

- By PAUL GORST at Anfield

N what was his 47th birthday, Arne Slot will have been forgiven for thinking this was a night that put more than just the one year on him.

But in all likelihood, the Liverpool boss probably never doubted the outcome as his team left it late yet again to secure another big victory.

For what is now the fifth game running, the Premier League champions scored their winning goal in the closing stages, this time to give liftoff to their efforts to bring home a seventh European Cup and prove that their flair for the dramatic is not confined only to domestic duty.

Virgil van Dijk's 92nd-minute header means it is still Dominik Szoboszlai's free-kick against Arsenal that remains the earliest the Reds have scored their winning goals this term, which came after a mere 83 minutes.

And for all the talk of Liverpool putting their fans and head coach through the emotional wringer every week with their apparent unwillingness to put games to bed before the final knockings, their ability to continue scoring so late only further fosters a belief that it can be done.

The psychological impact this must have on the opposition can become weaponised by Slot's team as they go forth in this campaign.