Liverpool secured Champions League football with a memorable 3-0 win over Middlesbrough on Sunday, in front of a joyous Anfield crowd.
It was a huge afternoon on Merseyside, with Jurgen Klopp‘s side knowing that victory would earn a top-four finish for only the second time in eight years.
With Arsenal lurking ominously just a point behind Liverpool, Klopp and his players knew that dropped points could be absolutely fatal.
The players looked in pensive mood during the warmup, ahead of the most important game of the season.
Philippe Coutinho and James Milner were two of Liverpool’s better players during a first half lacking in quality and full of tension.
Dejan Lovren was arguably fortunate to escape a red card, however, while Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge were on the periphery of things.
Gini Wijnaldum had fired Liverpool ahead with a blistering strike just before half-time, easing the nerves inside Anfield hugely.
Coutinho then once again turned up on the big occasion, curling home a trademark free-kick in front of the Anfield Road end.
Adam Lallana put the icing on the cake with his first goal of 2017—it couldn’t have come at a much better time.
The Reds can now celebrate, having finished fourth after a long and gruelling campaign, with a crucial summer ahead for Klopp and his side.
