Jurgen Klopp was loving life at Anfield after a rousing win (Picture: Getty Images)
Jurgen Klopp enjoyed an ‘exceptional game’ as Liverpool beat Luton 4-1 on Wednesday night, hailing the performances of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch and Caoimhin Kelleher in particular.
It did not look like it was going to be an exceptional night for the Reds when Chiedozie Ogbene put the visitors ahead after just 12 minutes at Anfield.
The score stayed the same for over 40 minutes with home fans starting to get a little nervy, but then the match turned around spectacularly.
Virgil van Dijk equalised on 56 minutes with Cody Gakpo putting the home team ahead less than two minutes later.
Luis Diaz extended Liverpool’s lead before Harvey Elliott completed the scoring, adding some gloss in the 90th minute.
A jubilant Klopp saluted all four sides of the ground with his trademark fist pumps after the match and was full of praise for his side, with four players especially catching his eye.
‘He [Luis Diaz] put it in the back of the net, Cody Gakpo what a game and Ryan Gravenberch too – they were all exceptional,’ Klopp told BBC Sport.
‘Caoimhin Kelleher had to fight against eight to nine men just to get a hand on the ball from set-pieces.’
Luis Diaz continued a good run of form (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Then the kids came on and did an incredible job. It is cool how culture educated the next generation.
‘But, in general the stadium and the team together changed the game – it was exceptional.’
A long list of injuries has seen Klopp turn to some of his youth team products in recent weeks and it was the same again against Luton.
Bobby Clark, Jayden Danns and James McConnell all came off the bench and Klopp was impressed with with.
‘The boys are ready and I wouldn’t do that if they weren’t ready,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t bring Bobby [Clark] on if he wasn’t, it looked a bit like Luton were done so we trust them [young players] a lot just with what they do.’
Bobby Clark made a late cameo (Picture: Getty Images)
Assessing the whole evening, which saw Liverpool extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points, he said: ‘Exceptional game. I liked lots of the first half, but I saw that the boys and crowd didn’t like it as much.
‘We started okay and you have to get used to an opponent, then they score their goal but everything was good until the final third and then we were in a rush.
‘I told the boys it was a top game and we have to be calmer in decisive moments, then there were fireworks and wonderful goals – fantastic night and it is just really good.’
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