LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) -Liverpool suffered a surprise 2-1 loss to Leeds United after Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville’s 89th minute strike in their Premier League clash at Anfield on Saturday that took the visitors out of the relegation zone.
The Reds’ first top-flight home defeat in 30 games follows last week’s loss at bottom side Nottingham Forest and further deepens the crisis around the struggling Merseyside club, who are ninth in the table on 16 points after 12 games.
The win takes Leeds up to 15th on 12 points.
Liverpool got off to another disastrous start after four minutes when Joe Gomez played a blind backpass to Alisson who had moved out of his goal and slipped, leaving a gaping space for Rodrigo to run in and tap the ball into the empty net.
Mohamed Salah levelled for Liverpool 10 minutes later when Andy Robertson crossed for the Egyptian international to hook a volley into the net from close range, igniting the Liverpool supporters as their team began the chase for a winner.
Leeds continued to threaten on the break, though, and Brenden Aaronson almost put them back in front a few minutes later, meeting Rasmus Kristensen’s cross from the right with a deft volley that cannoned off the crossbar.
Leeds French keeper Illan Meslier kept his side in the game almost single-handedly in the second half, pulling off a superb save from Darwin Nunez in a one-on-one after 67 minutes and then clawing away a shot from the same player 11 minutes later.
Meslier’s saves set the scene for Summerville to steal the three points with a last-gasp poacher’s finish.
On the eve of his 21st birthday, the forward snapped up a ball in the box from Patrick Bamford and quickly pulled the trigger, firing across Alisson into the net.
It was Leeds’ first away win of the season and a first league loss for Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk at Anfield since he signed for Liverpool in January 2018.
“It’s a huge moment for me and my family,” Summerville told Sky Sports. “Scoring at Anfield is a big moment for me. It went so quick … when you’re in the box, you have to think quickly. It just happened.”
Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp is in no doubt about what he expects of his under-performing side. “We have to fight and that is what we must do,” he said.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
