After Ibrahima Konate headed Liverpool level at the San Siro on Tuesday night, Darwin Nunez and Andy Robertson could hardly contain their delight
The duo had been warming up on the sidelines as Trent Alexander-Arnold prepared to whip an enticing delivery into the penalty area and, when Konate rose to divert the ball past AC Milan's Mike Maignan, they celebrated wildly on the touchline.
The goal will surely have garnered a happier reception, though, in the Liverpool dugout, with Arne Slot's backroom staff having successfully identified and exploited one of the Italian side's major deficiencies
That sense of accomplishment will have only intensified when, just 20 minutes later, Virgil van Dijk powered home from a Kostas Tsimikas corner to put the visitors in front.
Excluding penalties, it was the first time Liverpool had scored from two set pieces in the same game since a 3-1 win over Burnley in early February.
Slot said
“We were disappointed about getting eight corner kicks and not scoring against Nottingham Forest (last Saturday), but we were very close,”
“We felt with all the work we put in on set pieces, that at some moment we should get the reward.
“It was two very good set pieces and two very good headers that got us two goals. It was important because I think we were very comfortable on the ball, pressed really well, but in the end, you need goals as well.”
“We hit the crossbar a few times from open play, so we needed set pieces and it was good to see that we scored them for all the work my assistants and the players put in.”
Aaron Briggs, who joined the club as first team individual development coach in July has been charged with conjuring up the Reds’ set-piece innovations while the club’s search for a long-term replacement continues.
Though the position remains unfilled, Briggs - a UEFA Pro Licence holder - is doing a fantastic job at filling the void.
He will no doubt have been delighted to see both of Liverpool’s centre-backs get on the scoresheet in Milan.
Going forward, though, set-pieces should be more regularly deployed as an avenue to goals for the Reds.
Before Tuesday’s trip to the San Siro, Liverpool had won 28 corners in just four games but had failed to take advantage of any of them.
the Reds only have to look at rivals Arsenal to see the potential potency of set- pieces, with the Gunners having topped the Premier League’s set-piece table last term with 20 goals.
Liverpool, by contrast, ranked joint-fourth in that particular table, with 14 set-piece goals scored across the campaign.
Arsenal’s first-choice centre-back partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães having contributed 12 league goals between them since the start of the 2022/23 season.
Liverpool’s current centre-back pairing of Van Dijk and Konate, however, have generated just five league goals in the same timeframe -
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