Such was the timing of Divock Origi‘s late goal against Wolves, the Liverpool squad were left in awe of his impact, with calls for a statue to be built in his honour.
When all else fails, Jurgen Klopp can turn to his supersub.
That is exactly what he did when Saturday’s clash at Molineux looked to be trailing out for a 0-0 draw, with the manager sending on Origi with 23 minutes left to play.
Deep into stoppage time, the Belgian produced the moment that mattered, swivelling and firing past Orlando Sa to seal a 1-0 victory and a vital three points in the title race.
It was Origi’s 11th goal off the bench, with only Ryan Babel (12), Daniel Sturridge (13) and David Fairclough (18) scoring more as substitutes in the club’s history.
There is no surprise, then, who the squad turned to as they hailed a priceless win, with Andy Robertson leading the praise for Origi:
WOW! Unreal feeling. Was a scrap but that’s why we always fight to the end ?
P.s. I’ll take my grandkids to visit the Divock Origi statue one day WHAT A MAN ?? #YNWA pic.twitter.com/FYkUq7Yq61— Andy Robertson (@andrewrobertso5) December 4, 2021
Saturday night and.. ? pic.twitter.com/vfI2MCTiW2
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) December 4, 2021
Divock Origi, what a man! Boys kept pushing and believing until the end ? #saturdaynightdivockorigi #YNWA pic.twitter.com/kLvNUr4J68
— James Milner (@JamesMilner) December 4, 2021
Divoooock!!!
Until the end!!! @LFC ?? pic.twitter.com/78QOcKu0yh— Thiago Alcantara (@Thiago6) December 4, 2021
Till the end ? Origi time! ? pic.twitter.com/y1OeN0SfrC
— Jordan Henderson (@JHenderson) December 4, 2021
Big Divvvvvv???? https://t.co/zNbUJ5BHtQ
— Curtis Jones (@curtisjr_10) December 4, 2021
The overriding feeling throughout those messages, from the likes of Robertson, James Milner, Thiago and Jordan Henderson, was that Liverpool’s ability to fight “until the end” was key.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was one of those to echo this, as he took to Instagram to relish a win that was “better late than never”:
It’s about always believing… This TEAM never gives Up!!! Mentality monsters!!! ???#YNWA https://t.co/U7GMpazq6j
— Adrián San Miguel (@AdriSanMiguel) December 4, 2021
In his post-match interview with LFCTV, Origi himself emphasised the importance of believing a win was still possible:
“I think that ties in with the values of the club – keep believing, keep going.
“In the end you can only control the moment you are in and just try to make the right play every time again, even if you fail again and again.
“In the end, we are happy that we got the goal, even though it was a bit late. We enjoyed it.”
For much of the season so far, Liverpool have not needed that fighting spirit as much, having dominated the majority of games and seen the scorelines reflect that.
But there is another edge to Klopp’s mentality monsters, with the Reds able to showcase this once again with a much-needed win that lifted them above Chelsea in the title race.
