Stephen Warnock has paid tribute to the ‘magnificent’ Caoimhin Kelleher after enjoying a brilliant Champions League debut for Liverpool on Tuesday night.
The Premier League champions edged out Ajax to qualify for the knockout phase of Europe’s elite competition.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp raised eyebrows before kickoff when he named rookie goalkeeper Kelleher in his first XI ahead of Adrian, with Alisson sidelined with a hamstring problem.
But the 22-year-old Irishman vindicated Klopp’s faith with a fine performance, pulling off some superb saves, especially on 89 minutes.
The Dutch giants looked like stealing a point when veteran striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar found himself unmarked with a free header from six yards out, the sort of chances that he has made a career out of converting, but Kelleher pulled off a fantastic instinctive save to protect Liverpool’s 1-0 scoreline.
And here’s how fofrmer Liverpool defender Warnock reacted to the youngster’s performance last night.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “What a dream debut this is for Caoimhin Kelleher. It’s a brilliant save – it’s everything he would’ve dreamt of last night. Big saves on the night, it’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar with a powerful header and he’s saved it top corner, magnificent from Kelleher.”
This was a big chance for Kelleher to usurp Adrian as Klopp’s second-choice goalkeeper and, with the German manager racing on to the field to embrace the Cork native last night, it’s safe to say he’ll be back between the sticks when they host Wolves on Sunday night.
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