Jurgen Klopp admitted his relief after Liverpool finally won their first Premier League game of 2023 with a 2-0 derby victory over Everton on Monday.
Mohamed Salah scored in the competition for the first time since Boxing Day and January signing Cody Gakpo notched his first goal for the club in the Anfield triumph.
Liverpool’s success ended a run of four league games without a win and lifted them to ninth in the table while struggling Everton remained in the bottom three.
Asked how he felt after the game, Liverpool manager Klopp said: ‘Relieved – that’s it, that’s the main feeling since the final whistle.
‘I’m happy with the performance. It was necessary that we played the game we wanted to play and not the game Everton wanted to play.
‘You cannot avoid it all the time but they didn’t have an extremely high number of set-pieces. With the all aggression you have to show, you have to make sure you don’t overdo it because each set-piece is a massive threat and something they want to have.
‘I thought we did that really well. On top of that we were super-dominant, switched the sides, kept the ball and kept them running.
‘Both goals came from counter-attacks – that is allowed as well – and I loved both goals.
‘For both goals we had three options in the box. A lot of things were different tonight so it was our best game for a while.
‘We needed this game, we needed this performance. Our people absolutely deserved it. I loved the atmosphere – even before we scored. It is an insane atmosphere people create here.’
