David Segar: Philippe Coutinho v Hull City
MY moment of the season was when Phil Coutinho smashed in the fourth goal against Hull at Anfield.
There had been question marks about how we dealt with teams like that, as there still are now, but on that day we obliterated the Tigers in the first half. It was 3-0 and should have been double that.
Second half starts and Hull score a soft goal from a corner. Despite the dominance, the inevitable nerves kicked in. What if we did that thing that we sometimes do where we collapse? It could unravel what was shaping up to be a great season. Hull’s fans believed. They cheered it as if it were an equaliser. They even let off orange pyro.
Before the tangerine smoke had even started to float off into the Anfield sky, Liverpool attacked again, gave the ball to Coutinho, who cut inside and walloped one into the top corner from 25 yards. Magic.
Trademark @Phil_Coutinho. ⚽ pic.twitter.com/SaW4SivYNm
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 21, 2017
Joel Rabinowitz: Jordan Henderson v Chelsea
I SUPPOSE the correct answer has to be Sadio Mane’s 94th minute Derby winner at Goodison, but in the interest of variety my moment of the season has to be Jordan Henderson’s belter against Chelsea.
Not only was it an absolutely stunning strike which ended up being the match-winner to secure three points at Stamford Bridge, this goal had an extra symbolic value to it.
Henderson is a player I’ve always been a big admirer of and I always felt the criticism he received from a large portion of fans last season was very unfair given his injury troubles. He’s been tremendous this season and that goal felt like a real coming of age moment for him as Liverpool captain and a big two fingers up to those who like to slag him off.
The knee slide celebration was boss too.
Never getting old. #LFC pic.twitter.com/lSITL1slXE
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) September 16, 2016
Karl Coppack: Liverpool 6 Watford 1
MY moment of the season is Liverpool 6 Watford 1.
6-1 is a proper hammering and for some reason looks better than 6-0. 7-1 is a glorious scoreline too and I left the ground just a little bit disappointed we didn’t get one.
What makes this special is Watford’s performance. They weren’t too bad. They tried to push Liverpool back and get into us whenever possible, but come half time the Reds were rampant.
Mane’s first goal is aerodynamically impossible in the same way a bumblebee is but they too can fly when science says otherwise. Coutinho’s goal, coming so close to the first, ends it for them and Emre Can’s header – the keeper’s a disgrace, by the way – took an age to go in.
The second half goals are tap-ins and piss taking. Liverpool go top and the league shakes.
For a bit.
Neil Scott: Liverpool 4 Leicester City 1
MY moment of the season came back in September, the first home game, against Leicester.
The sun was shining, spirits were high, the new big stand was box-fresh and the sense that this might be the start of some rousing new adventure was just beginning to crystallise. And the team responded with a display of liquid football to gladden the steeliest heart.
Way up in the Upper Main, it was bouncing. Louder than The Kop, more animated than the Anny Road, less jaded than the Kemlyn. Of course, it won’t last. Not like this. Not every week. But for a couple of hours it was enough. Everything was new, everything was ahead of us and Mane was going to show them the way to go home.
Shame there was no running water in the toilets, like, but sometimes you can get too much of a good thing.
Dan Austin: Post-Derby Everton Fume
MY moment of the season is not directly football related, but was brought about by Mané’s late tap-in in front of the Park End.
I didn’t have a ticket so watched it in a mate’s on the telly. In the 93rd minute I was planning on going home and going to bed, but by the 95th I was frantically ordering a taxi to take me straight to town.
I met Craig Hannan and a couple of his mates in a bar and a friendly TAW subscriber bought us shots of Sambuca (nice one Jimmy, mate). We made fools of ourselves for a few hours before stumbling along to Maccies, where a Blue from Northern Ireland took exception to Craig singing “Oh, Mané, Mané”, and approached our table.
And here began the conversation which is my highlight of 2016-17:
Bluenose: “What were you saying there, mate?”
Hannan: “Sadio Mané… 95th minute!”
Bluenose: “Say that again, you cunt”
Hannan: “Sadio Mané… 98th minute!” (Craig’s level of intoxication rendering his timekeeping slightly off.)
Bluenose: “See, if I see ever see you in Limelight you’re getting slashed, you wee dickhead.”
Hannan: “Sadio Mané… 90th minute!”
At this point the Maccies bouncer came over and separated the pair of them, and asked us to leave.
But the joyous look on Craig’s face, beaming from ear-to-ear with mayo round his mouth, was perfect. That late derby winner gave him so much joy that he felt invincible. And so did Reds all over the city.
You can’t beat that.
Joe Watson: Sadio Mane v Everton
MY moment of the season has got to be a goal. Pretty much all football is about is goals, and beating Everton in the derby, so I’m going to go for Mane’s derby winner. It’s a fairly obvious one but the reason it’s so obvious is what makes it so special.
If you were chatting in the pub before the game about the best way to win a derby, this would be near the top of the list. A scuffed shot rebounding off the post and one of our lads reacting before any of theirs could.
There’s some horrible uncertainty when the whistle goes, but it’s just to confirm that we have in fact won the derby in the 95th minute. It was perfect, and secured three vital points which kept us in the conversation over the Christmas period.
I was home from university for Christmas for this one so didn’t celebrate it in quite the way it deserved, but the lads in the ground certainly took care of that. Thanks, Sadio.
The Reds pic.twitter.com/SSEtgyHBfl
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) December 20, 2016
Jonny Gibson: Sadio Mane v Tottenham Hotspur
MY moment of the season is the 2-0 home win over Spurs, because I nearly fell off The Kop when the second went in.
The game itself was a dream. I’d been desperate for a Brendan Rodgers-style fast start, where we just obliterate the opposition in a whirlwind of Red domination, and that’s exactly what happened.
The Kop was bouncing — or maybe it was just me because it was bloody cold!
We knew the first goal was coming and celebrated accordingly, but in anticipation for the second, everyone around me seemed to edge closer to the pitch then Mane banged it home. In the chaos of the celebration, I’d gone two or three rows further forward and nearly over the side of The Kop.
If Mane got his hat-trick I definitely would have gone overboard.
Danny Morgan: Unveiling The New Main Stand
MY moment of the season, and one that will probably resonate eternally with me as a Liverpool fan was our first home game of the season against Leicester, but more pertinently, the first game at Anfield in our colossal new Main Stand.
I took my usual walk to the ground in the Liverpool sunshine and was drawn to this beacon-like frame appearing in between the roads and houses of L4, flocking to it en mass along with other Reds.
To then arrive and take in such a new and revitalised part of our historic stadium, from lying on the newly formed grassed area outside, enjoying a drink and admiring our new surroundings; to seeing the inside of the stadium and this hugely impressive structure that was now overlooking the Anfield pitch was a feeling, although well overdue, of immense pride and development that we have long yearned for and deserved.
Jamie Holme: Adam Lallana v Leicester City
MY moment of the season came during the first home game at Anfield against the champions Leicester City.
Under the watchful gaze of the breathtaking new Main Stand, it felt like the game held extra significance. Anfield looked and felt different.
It felt more powerful and imposing than normal, and when coupled with the high pressing, dynamic Reds swallowing up blue shirts with every opportunity, it had the feel that perhaps we could be seeing the start of something special.
None more special than shortly after half-time when Georginio Wijnaldum deftly laid the ball towards an oncoming Adam Lallana who then struck the ball as cleanly as you could ever wish, on the angle and the ball then rocketed into the far top corner.
It’s the type of goal I’ve always dreamt of scoring at The Kop end and for it to come from one of my favourite Liverpool players, who for all his talent, has struggled for end product at times. It was a special moment for me.
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/835090180809900032
David Tully: Roberto Firmino v Crystal Palace
MY moment of the season has to be Roberto Firmino’s goal in the 4-2 win away at Crystal Palace.
The goal itself is just fantastic. A lovely defence-splitting pass from the captain and the way Firmino barely looks up before gently lifting it over the onrushing ‘keeper is magic. It’s a beautiful looking finish as there’s just enough on it to enable to ball to bounce a couple of times before it nestles into the back of the net.
Also, the way in which Firmino celebrates before the ball even crosses the line — it’s a great moment.
There was a huge sense of relief about this goal because it finally gave us the breathing space we deserved for we had completely dominated Palace but were only ahead by a goal.
The win put us joint top of the league, behind only on goal difference, and kept our early-season momentum going. It also plunged Alan Pardew and Palace further into the mire.
Sorry, Palace fans, but this Liverpool supporter will take a long time to forget Dwight Gayle and that 3-3 draw.
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