Sheff Utd 0 Liverpool 1: On-loan Man Utd keeper Henderson slated for horror blunder to gift Reds win against Blades
DEAN HENDERSON was left red-faced as his mistake handed Liverpool a hard-fought win against Sheffield United.
The goalkeeper, on loan from Manchester United, committed a huge blunder to undo his side's great defensive work and hand the Reds a one-goal lead through Georginio Wijnaldum.
The Dutch midfielder struck the ball from outside the box and many were expecting Henderson to deal with it comfortably.
However, the English shot-stopper could only let the ball spill through his arms and into the back of the net to send Jurgen Klopp's men on their way to another three points.
It was the type of gritty performance from Liverpool that can make a difference in the title race.
While Manchester City smashed eight past Watford last week, this was a game where Klopp’s lads looked far from their best yet still came out with maximum points.
The type of victory that wins titles?
The Kop boss said: “I don’t know exactly what you need for that. I forgot as it was too long ago. But winning on the cloudy days is especially valuable.
“When you win a lot of games they can’t all be beauties.
“Winning eight times 1-0 is more important than one time 8-0. But unfortunately City don’t just win one game like that. If you gave me a guarantee I’d take 1-0 in the next eight games but it’s difficult.”
It is now 16 straight Premier League wins for Klopp’s lads in a run that stretches back to last season - and they were made to work really hard.
Their front three were not firing on all cylinders and it Blades sensed a big upset.
In fact, there was nothing but praise from Klopp afterwards
“We were playing against a proper unit with the player, manager, team, crowd that felt like a wall when you play against them,” said Klopp.
Chris Wilder, on the other hand, saw a missed opportunity.
He admitted before this clash that the fixture was a reward for the club’s hard work getting back to the Premier League.
It was just six years ago Blades were hosting Crawley and Hartlepool at this stage of the season in League One.
Here they were going toe-to-toe with the European champions - and giving them a proper match with their counter-attacking tactics.
With Liverpool’s front three all rested in midweek for the EFL Cup, it was a case of Blades trying to blunt Klopp’s attack and breaking forward when they got the ball.
They caused quite more than a few problems too.
Oli McBurnie and Callum Robinson were full of running up top and got early sighters of goal.
It was just before half-time when Klopp’s lads starting nudging on the accelerator to create some genuine chances.
The first came from the magical boot of Virgil van Dijk, who sent a ball from 60 yards that split the home defence.
Sadio Mane had run off Chris Basham and found himself behind John Egan in front of goal.
But with just Henderson to beat, panic set in and his half-volley was sliced horribly wide.
He got another chance just before the break when John Fleck lost the ball in midfield to Wijnaldum and Liverpool’s pacy forwards swarmed forwards.
Mo Salah has been accused of being too selfish but here he looked up and saw Roberto Firmino in a better position.
The ball then shifted right across Klopp’s frontline but ended with Mane smacking the near post with his finish.
And Ollie Norwood also tested Adrian with a long-ranger after he crossed for McBurnie to head over.
But the winner came with 20 minutes left after Klopp’s tactical switch worked.
He brought on Divock Origi and decided on taking off Jordan Henderson instead of Wijnaldum.
And it was Origi’s cleared cross that fell for Wijnaldum to shoot on goal, with Henderson’s lapse of concentration seeing the ball squirm through his legs and over the line.
Lucky, but reward for the likes of Van Dijk keeping the hosts out for so long.
Klopp added: “You need a complete performance to win football games. This game could have clicked but when you don’t score you have to stay in the game. We were playing against a unit with a crowd that felt like a wall.
“They have so many good little things which gives them chances to win a football game and the relationship between manager and player is good. I’m sure we will come here again.
“He is quite animated, Chris. I thought I was loud. But the boys listen and that is impressive.”
Blades keeper Henderson went on to deny Salah when he went through on goal, then was applauded off the pitch by his fans despite the error.
But there was no room for sentiment from Wilder.
The Blades boss said: “"We have had big moments in the game but we did not take them, we had to jump all over it and we didn't.
“We had enough to get something out of this game but we did not take our opportunities. Points are the most important thing and we did not get points we deserved."