Paul Merson was left absolutely stunned after Callum Hudson-Odoi’s winning goal as Nottingham Forest handed Liverpool their first defeat under Arne Slot.
The Reds dominated the game at Anfield but failed to make it count for anything, as Nuno Espirito Santo set his side up to frustrate and counter-attack to try and find themselves a victory for the first time this season.
And they succeeded late on in the second half as Anthony Elanga linked up with the former Chelsea winger to score a stunning goal and secure all three points, in a moment which left pundit Merson completely stunned while appearing live on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday.
Merson Stunned by ‘Phenomenal’ GoalLiverpool beaten for the first time under SlotSlot’s side controlled possession but failed to create any real clear-cut-chances against Forest, who set up deliberately to frustrate the home side in front of an expectant Anfield crowd after three successive wins and clean sheets to start the season.
However, after watching Hudson-Odoi put the visitors into the lead, Merson couldn’t control himself while live on Sky and labelled the goal as “phenomenal”.
What a goal this is. On the counter attack, Elanga down the right hand side feeds a lovely ball across the pitch, bends it between two defenders to Callum Hudson-Odoi on the other side of the pitch on the corner of the box.“He comes inside, and whips it and it hits the inside of the post and goes in. Alisson can’t do anything.
It’s a phenomenal, phenomenal goal this. Oh my God. He’s started it miles away.“Even the goalkeeper, you’re talking about a world-class goalkeeper. He gets absolutely nowhere near it. Phenomenal finish.
1-0 Forest.”Liverpool had named an unchanged starting lineup for the game with Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota leading the attack, but they came up short over the 90 minutes and will now head into their Champions League fixture in midweek against AC Milan on the back of a defeat.
