Alexis Mac Allister said following Liverpool’s victory over Arsenal to secure their spot in the Emirates FA Cup fourth round, “We showed our mentality.”
In the competition, Jürgen Klopp’s team defeated the Gunners 2-0 at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. It was their first victory away from home since 1964 and their first over the Gunners since the 2001 final thanks to an own goal from Jakub Kiwior and a goal in stoppage time from Luis Diaz.
After the game, Mac Allister spoke with Liverpoolfc.com on another impressive team performance from Klopp’s team. The Reds will find out who they play against in round four when the draw is made tonight.
“[We are] very happy because we played against a very good team, very tough, but in the end we got the win and that’s the most important thing,” stated the midfielder for Argentina.
“We are very happy because, as I say, it was a tough game and maybe in the first half they were better and had some opportunities, but [in the] second half we defended very well and we showed our mentality.”
“We didn’t realise that they were playing one-on-one [across] the entire pitch in the first half,” he continued. “But we found out in the second half.”
“We played some long balls and we put them into Darwin [Nunez] and Lucho in behind and that was very important and they did very well to help the team to attack and score goals.”
Many key players for Liverpool were absent before the match, including captain Virgil van Dijk due to illness, Dominik Szoboszlai, Joel Matip, Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara, and Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo, who were abroad on international duty.
However, Mac Allister thinks the squad’s excellence was evident in north London.
“We know how important they are for us, Virgil, Endo and Mo,” he continued. Yet, we consistently assert that the players in the background must step up and complete their tasks. It was a fantastic game by [Jarell] Quansah.
“So it’s something we have to keep proving every single game because we are definitely going to miss them.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who led the team in Van Dijk’s absence and put on an outstanding display that included the free kick that resulted in the first goal ten minutes from time, was also honoured by Mac Allister.
“We know the quality of Trent and his set-pieces and from open play he has an amazing right foot,” Mac Allister stated. “I’m really thrilled for him because he displays it in every game.
Extremely pleased for the young players that entered the game at a difficult time, Bobby Clark and Conor Bradley. Since they earned it, I’m pleased for them.”
