Liverpool's 4-3 victory over Fulham was a game for the ages.ย
The Reds staged a remarkable late comeback against the Cottagers on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League, goals from Wataru Endo and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 87th and 88th minute respectively handing Liverpool the win.
Endo's was a beautifully-struck effort from just outside the penalty area, with Alexander-Arnold rifling a half-volley into the bottom corner with aplomb.
Alexander-Arnold thought he had scored another beauty earlier in the game, but his 25-yard free-kick went down as an own goal after it ricocheted off the back of Bernd Leno on its way in having crashed off the underside of the crossbar. Regardless, the 25-year-old couldn't have struck a much better dead ball.
But the pick of the bunch was undoubtedly Alexis Mac Allister's debut Liverpool goal. The Argentine let it run across his body on to his favoured right foot before lashing a bouncing ball from almost 30 yards into the far top corner. An astonishing strike that, luckily, was part of a winning performance.
"I don't think I've ever seen a game with this amount of beautiful goals," said Klopp after the match, the Liverpool boss left in awe of some astonishing strikes at Anfield.
The xG (expected goals) of Liverpool's efforts against Fulham tells the story, highlighting just how incredible it was that all four shots found the back of the net.
The xG on Liverpool's goals vs Fulham:
Alexander-Arnold 0.05
Mac Allister 0.03
Endo 0.05
Alexander-Arnold 0.03Ridiculous. ๐
โ Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) December 4, 2023
The combined xG for all of Liverpool's goals was 0.16 (via Understat) - Alexander-Arnold's free-kick and Endo's effort sitting at 0.05 each, while Mac Allister's worldie and Alexander-Arnold's winner had an xG of 0.03 apiece.
To put this in perspective, Fulham's three goals had a combined xG of 1.26, almost eight times as much as Liverpool's four strikes.
While obviously not a sustainable method of scoring goals and winning games, it's always handy to have players capable of producing moments of supreme individual quality, something Liverpool had in abundance against Fulham.
And, in fairness to the Reds, they still managed an overall xG of 2.73 to Fulham's 1.51 over the course of the 90 minutes, meaning they were actually uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal when it came to clear-cut opportunities.
It would be fantastic to see Liverpool score some similarly stunning strikes against Sheffield United this Wednesday, but a comfortable 2-0 win might be easier on the heart.