Klopp's verdict on Trent's free-kick: 'Wow!'
Jürgen Klopp had one word to describe Trent Alexander-Arnold's free-kick against Watford: 'Wow.'
Liverpool led a hard-fought encounter at Vicarage Road 1-0 heading into the final 15 minutes, courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s breakthrough.
Having been assigned to set-piece duties by the boss before kick-off, Alexander-Arnold took charge when the Reds then earned a dead-ball situation 25 yards from goal.
Rightly so, too.
The defender, whose first goal for the club was a free-kick at Hoffenheim at the start of last season, thumped a swerving shot into the top right corner to give his side a welcome cushion on the scoresheet.
Roberto Firmino sealed a 3-0 result and all three points with a late header – and Klopp was delighted by the manner of each strike.
Watch: Trent's free-kick from every angle
He told Liverpoolfc.com: “The first goal was a wonderful one-two, in the box, Mo at the first post and Sadio [Mane] sees him – bam, wonderful goal.
“Trent’s free-kick… wow! It was time actually – it was long ago we played Hoffenheim!
“The third goal, what a counter-attack! Robbo was on his bike and Sadio was in the perfect situation. He could have controlled the ball but he wanted to give the goal to Bobby and he deserved it.”
At the other end of the pitch, Liverpool made history: never before has a Reds team conceded as few as five goals after the opening 13 matches of a league season.
“I’m really happy about it, to be honest,” added Klopp.
“It’s nothing you can go for because how you can go for a clean sheet if you want to win good games? You have to open up a bit and you have to go for some risk.
“But it’s nice that this group came together in this big, big club, with this big history, and can make the best start. It feels good, to be honest.”