For one Liverpool player in particular, the 3-2 victory over Brighton on Wednesday night will live long in the memory for all the right reasons.
The Carabao Cup fixture at the Amex Stadium saw Vitezslav Jaros handed his first senior start for the Reds, having made his debut off the bench when replacing the injured Alisson Becker in the win at Crystal Palace earlier this month.
The 23-year-old wasn’t quite able to keep a clean sheet against the Seagulls, but his teammates and Arne Slot were ultimately indebted him for a world-class save to deny Simon Adingra early in the second half, managing to change his direction of travel just in time to get a firm glove to the Ivorian’s header.
Hendrie stunned by ‘brilliant’ Jaros save
Speaking on Sky Sports‘ match coverage, Lee Hendrie was just as stunned as the rest of us upon witnessing the extraordinary save from Jaros to keep Liverpool in front just after Cody Gakpo had broken the deadlock.
The ex-Aston Villa midfielder said: “What a save. He just hung in the air. I tell you what, Adingra must think he’s scored. He literally hangs in the air but Jaros in goal, how on earth he manages to get that fingertip just to force it away from goal.
“It’s a brilliant save. [Adingra] doesn’t do a lot wrong, he heads it back towards that far post and it’s a brilliant save from Jaros, it really is, fingertips and just off the stem of the post.”
Liverpool have an abundance of quality goalkeepers
With Caoimhin Kelleher being rested and Alisson still sidelined, last night’s match represented a big opportunity for Jaros to prove his worth to Liverpool, and he certainly made the most of it.
In addition to that phenomenal save from Adingra, he also did well to thwart Tariq Lamptey in the opening quarter-hour and looked quite comfortable in playing out from the back. He may be slightly disappointed with the part he played in the Ivorian’s goal to make it 2-1, but overall the Czech goalkeeper was magnificent.
He looks set to retake his place on the substitutes’ bench when the Reds welcome Brighton to Anfield on Saturday, with the Irishman returning to the starting line-up, and will likely find himself out of the matchday squad once the Brazil international is back from injury.
However, Jaros showed at the Amex Stadium that he’s an option Liverpool can trust when needed; and even with Giorgi Mamardashvili’s arrival next year presenting another obstacle to first-team inclusion, this season could still be the making of the 23-year-old.
If he can turn in a few more performances like this, he’ll definitely attract interest from elsewhere and could yield a healthy transfer fee, just as the likes of Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho have done. For now, we’re just delighted that Slot put his trust in him last night, with that faith being repaid in full.