Steven Gerrard was quick to blame one of Liverpool’s players for Wednesday night’s opening goal against PSG in the Champions League.
Steven Gerrard takes aim at Ibrahima Konate (Image: Getty Images)
Steven Gerrard has claimed Ibrahima Konate may have been stronger in the build-up to Paris Saint-Germain’s opening goal against Liverpool on Wednesday night against Desir Douai. The two teams met in the Champions League semi-final first leg at Parc des Princes at 8pm.
But it took just 11 minutes for the Ligue 1 giants to overcome the Premier League champions that night, with Douye slotting the ball into Giorgi Mamadashvili from the edge of the box. Vicinha darted into the center of the park with good pace, played a quick one-two with Nuno Mendes, and found Doue on the left.
The youngster evaded Konate’s presence, outmaneuvered the centre-half and ran into the open space in front of him. Doué then found Vicinha supporting him inside and the ball was passed to Ousmane Dembele.
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The Frenchman lost control while dribbling forward and the ball went wide again to Douet, who twisted and turned on the edge of the area and fired a flying shot towards Mamadashvili’s goal. The ball eventually flew past the goalkeeper and into the back of the goal.
A huge deflection of Ryan Gravenbirch’s back leg had a big impact on the trajectory of the shot, but Gerrard took issue with Konate’s lack of strength in the build-up. Speaking at half-time on TNT Sports, the Liverpool legend said: “They could have been better around the halfway line, you can see that PSG are out of form for them.
“Konate could have won the duel better. If you look at the backline, everything is out of sync.
“Again, they get to the ball early enough, they have enough numbers. They’re not passive, they’re getting around the ball.”
Steven Gerrard criticizes Ibrahima Konate (Image: Getty Images)
“When he cuts back, they end up surrounding themselves with four players, but no one can close down enough and they end up getting a brutal deflection and a goal.”
Elsewhere, Gerrard asked if Mamadashvili might have moved a little closer to the line and turned the ball over when the shot came in. The Georgian shot-stopper said he was a little further forward for Gerrard’s preference, saying: “Maybe he could have been another foot or a yard further back, but there may be no reason for him to be that high.”
“It’s unfortunate and perhaps a bit cruel, but if you step outside of the goalkeeper’s union, you can say he could have been a little further back. Then he could have gone over the bar.”
This follows coach Arne Slott’s decision not to start a number of key players in Wednesday night’s crucial game. Mohamed Salah and Kodi Gakpo were both relegated to the bench early on, but the Dutchman instead put his faith in his front three of Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Jeremy Frimpong.
Alexander Isak also returned to the bench for the first time since breaking his leg against Tottenham Hotspur in December, with the Swedish striker suggesting he could play up to 20 minutes if needed.
Despite their best efforts, Liverpool ultimately extended their 1-0 lead to two points after Kvaratschelia found the back of the net in the 65th minute. The Reds will have quite a mountain to climb when they come from behind at Anfield on Tuesday, April 14th.
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