Andy Robertson admitted he had “not got a clue” how his fortuitous opener for Liverpool against Atletico Madrid came about.
The Scotland captain benefited from a deflection off his body from a Mohamed Salah free-kick that wrong-footed Jan Oblak just four minutes into Wednesday night’s Champions League clash at Anfield.
Liverpool doubled their lead only two minutes later, Salah expertly slotting home after holding off three defenders inside the box.
Atletico, however, clawed their way back into the contest on the stroke of half-time when Marcos Llorente halved the deficit.
The Spaniard later enjoyed some fortune of his own, as a volley deflected off Alexis Mac Allister to leave Alisson Becker helpless.
But for the fifth game running, Arne Slot’s side produced late drama.
This time it was Virgil van Dijk who delivered the decisive blow, rising to meet Dominik Szoboszlai’s 92nd-minute corner with a thunderous header in front of the Kop.
“The set-piece coach, for whatever reason, he said I was crucial to set-pieces today so I’ve taken it literally!” Robertson told TNT Sports post-match.
“I was just trying to get in the line of the ’keeper so he couldn’t really see. It’s a great finish, give me the Puskas Award now! [Laughs]
“Obviously I didn’t know much about it but it was a great start.”
“We need to maybe get back to winning a bit simpler and a bit easier,” added Robertson.
“The assistant manager turned to me when Virgil put it in and said he’s getting too old for it, so I can’t imagine what the fans are like.
“Obviously it’s a great thing to have, being able to keep going right to the end, but when you’re 2-0 up and you’ve played so well in the first half, it should have been a more comfortable night.”
On Alexander Isak making his Liverpool debut, the left-back said: “I thought he was excellent.
“Obviously [he has] not really had a pre-season, not had a lot of games since last season. But I thought, especially the first half, he was excellent.
“[He] naturally got tired and then it’s amazing to have a player like Hugo to come on. Both of them have got such quality.
“We’ve got a lot of new players, they have to settle in; playing with a big club like this is not easy.
“They’ve all really done well. They are the future, they are the ones who are going to take this club forward.
“They have shown glimpses so far and I’m sure they’ll only get better.”
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