Liverpool beat AS Roma 5-2 in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at Anfield on Tuesday night but Dejan Lovren made another mistake.
It had all been going so well for Dejan Lovren at Liverpool.
The Croatian centre-back has blossomed from scapegoat to surprise package in the last few months, particularly after Virgil van Dijk’s January arrival, and appeared to be finally putting the fans and pundits who had relentlessly written him off in their place.
Lovren was fantastic against Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final and, with Liverpool 5-0 up and cruising against Roma in the semis on Wednesday night, the former Southampton defender was producing another commanding performance.
And then, with just ten minutes to go, Lovren made the kind of mistake that serves to overshadow all the excellence that came before it.
He misjudged a simple long ball from Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan and, seconds later, Edin Dzeko had the ball in the back of the Anfield net. 5-1.
A Diego Perotti penalty later and the game finished 5-2, Roma’s spirited late charge taking some of the sheen off the Mo Salah show and ensuring that Liverpool cannot afford to go to the Stadio Olympico in anything approaching a relaxed mood.
Yes, Lovren has made great strides since the turn of the year but a crucial mistake is never far away and, against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the final, you would not bet on him marking Robert Lewandowski or Cristiano Ronaldo out of the game.
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