Mac Allister delivers blunt verdict on Liverpool performance at Forest

Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister spoke after the 1-0 Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest and admitted our performance fell below the expected level despite his dramatic late winner.

The Argentina international settled the match in the 97th minute at the City Ground, but his post-match comments via BBC Sport focused more on the display than the celebration.

Mac Allister had seen an earlier effort ruled out after the ball struck his arm during a chaotic sequence inside the penalty area.

He said: “It hit my back and my elbow. I understand the rule but if you understand football, that goal should have stood.”

He then revealed a conversation with striker Hugo Ekitike moments before the winning goal arrived.

“I told Hugo it would be a goal and one or two minutes later, it was. I’m very glad it was me.”

Mac Allister assesses Liverpool display

Rather than praising the win, the 27-year-old South American gave a notably honest analysis of how we played.

“The first half wasn’t good at all; positioning, pressing, intensity. It was not our standard.”

“The second half, I wouldn’t say it was good but it was better.”

That assessment matched what unfolded on the pitch because Liverpool struggled to keep possession, struggled to progress the ball and looked disjointed throughout large periods of the contest.

Florian Wirtz’s injury in the warm-up forced a reshuffle with Curtis Jones coming into the side and Dominik Szoboszlai initially covering at right-back before Arne Slot later swapped the two around mid-game.

Mo Salah was substituted late on while the match was still goalless and footage showed him smiling and shaking his head on the bench, although the introduction of fresh legs did help the closing stages.

Rio Ngumoha’s late energy arguably offered more attacking threat than the starting forward line had managed for most of the afternoon.

VAR drama and decisive moment

Mac Allister also addressed the lengthy VAR delay that followed both his disallowed goal and the eventual winner.

“It doesn’t feel nice in the moment but it is what it is. VAR is a good tool if you look at the mistakes the referees used to make. We need to waste these seconds or minutes because it’s best for football.”

The midfielder also acknowledged the difficulty of playing at the City Ground.

“We knew it would be a tough game because they are good at set pieces and they have really good players. It’s always tough to come here.”

(Source: SofaScore)

Nobody in red dominated the match, but Mac Allister still provided the decisive intervention, reacting quickest after Virgil van Dijk’s header was saved to secure three vital points that moved us level with the teams around the Champions League places.

It was not a performance to remember, yet it may prove to be a result we look back on at the end of the season.

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