Harvey Elliott Scores on 100th Liverpool Appearance in 4-1 Demolition of Luton Town

 Liverpool came back from one goal down at half time to thrash Luton 4-1 at Anfield on Wednesday evening. The result moves the Reds four points clear at the top of the Premier League. 

Chiedozie Ogbene headed the Hatters into a 12th-minute lead, but Liverpool turned the game around by scoring two goals in three second-half minutes, with Virgil van Dijk nodding in from a corner and Cody Gakpo heading in from an Alexis Mac Allister cross.

Luis Diaz crashed in another goal after 71 minutes after Alfie Doughty’s sloppy clearance and Harvey Elliott celebrated his 100th Liverpool appearance in style by curling into the top corner in stoppage time. 

Diaz spurned the first opportunity of the game when Elliott picked out the Colombian with a chipped pass, only for the striker to curl wide after rounding Gabriel Osho.

Luton forayed forwards and created an opening of their own when Ogbene skipped down the right flank and passed to Albert Sambi Lokonga who rolled into Ross Barkley. From there, Tahith Chong received the ball between Liverpool’s defence and midfield, feeding Doughty who dragged a shot wide from the left side of the area. 

Town took a shock lead when Cauley Woodrow laid off to Chong whose fierce low shot was saved by the legs of home goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, but Ogbene was alert at the back post and held his nerve by nodding into the unoccupied net, sending the 3,000 away fans into raptures. 

Ogbene was at the centre of the action again when Ross Barkley’s raking crossfield pass put the wingback in behind the Liverpool defence. However, the Irishman’s left-foot shot was blocked by Van Dijk and Lokonga’s through ball to Woodrow was collected by Kelleher. 

Midway through the first half, Wataru Endo clipped over the top of the Town defence for the sliding Diaz who got his toe to the ball but could only poke wide. Despite Luton’s lowly position in the league table, Rob Edwards’ men appeared happy to play an expansive end-to-end game. 

In a remarkable phase of play, Lokonga shook off Mac Allister and Gakpo with brute strength and an elegant Cruyff turn and triggered a Luton attack. Seconds later, it was Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch charging through midfield, eventually passing to Diaz who was denied by Teden Mengi’s valiant sliding tackle. 

Ogbene orchestrated one last attack before the interval, rounding Joe Gomez on the halfway line and gliding upfield. Town’s no.7 crossed into Woodrow who had made an intelligent run across the front post, but he awkwardly volleyed over the bar with his thigh.

Edwards was forced into a change at half-time when Lokonga complained of an injury, replacing him with club legend Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in midfield. Consequently, Luton lost all composure on the ball in the second half. 

Liverpool launched wave upon wave of attack from the start of the second half, beginning with marauding right back Conor Bradley poking to Diaz who saw his goalbound shot bravely blocked by the torso of Mengi. In the same phase of play another Diaz shot was blocked by the flailing arm of Osho, who was looking away from the ball. The Town defenders stared sheepishly at Andy Madley until the referee awarded a corner. 

Luton were living dangerously and had to rely on keeper Kaminski to preserve their one-goal advantage. The Belgian darted down to his left to save Gakpo’s shot. However, Liverpool would finally be rewarded from their dominance just seconds later when Van Dijk broke free of Mengi’s stewardship to powerfully head Mac Allister’s corner across goal and past Kaminski. 

The equalising goal brought the Anfield crowd to life and marked the beginning of a spell Reds manager Jurgen Klopp would later refer to as a ‘thunderstorm’ reminiscent of the 4-0 rout of Barcelona in the May 2019 Champions League semi-final second leg. 

Despite the absence of forwards Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool continued to carve open the Luton defence and took the lead on 58 minutes when Bradley’s quick throw-in caught the Town defence napping. Mac Allister volleyed across goal to Gakpo whose bullet header crashed into the roof of the net, sparking wild celebrations in the Kop End. 

This match was just the second with the fully redeveloped upper tier of the Anfield Road End open to supporters, and the pitch was engulfed in a cacophony of noise created by the majority of the 59,896 fans in attendance after Gakpo scored.

Kaminski displayed impressive agility when he flew to his left to stop a Van Dijk header with his left hand, although the referee stopped play after the Dutchman collided with Town striker Carlton Morris. 

Luton responded when Barkley surged through midfield and passed to Doughty on the left. The defender saw his effort blocked by Jarell Quansah, with the ball floating dangerously through the air and dropping agonisingly wide of Kelleher’s back post. 

Doughty was left to rue the opportunity missed when his aimless clearance across field was controlled by Bradley in midfield. With the Luton team dragged across to the one side of the field following a throw-in, many players were out of position when the Reds academy graduate passed to Diaz. The Colombian finally had his goal on 71 minutes when he danced beyond Mengi and drilled past Kaminski from seven yards. 

The host toyed with Luton in the final 20 minutes and could have won by a significantly wider margin but for the heroics of Kaminski, who dived down to his right to make a one-handed save from Diaz as the game entered its final stages. 

Luton have proven themselves to be one of the most resilient teams in the league and have scored many late goals this season. The Hatters came close to pulling a goal back when substitute Andros Townsend’s shot was deflected over the bar by Elliott. Barkley then took a quick free kick and weaved between Liverpool players before releasing a low shot which was easily collected by Kelleher.

Nevertheless, it was Liverpool who had the final say when Osho was dispossessed in midfield. The returning Andy Robertson tapped to Reds debutant Jayden Danns – the son of former Crystal Palace midfielder Neil Danns. The 18 year old threaded through to Gakpo who was blocked by an excellent last-ditch tackle by Mengi, but the energetic Elliott followed up to fire emphatically into the top corner. 

At full time, Klopp pumped his fist and saluted the clamorous fans on four stands of the stadium, full of belief that his final season at Anfield could have the dream ending.