Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp could not hide his delight with Fabio Carvalho's last-gasp winner against Newcastle United on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old came off the bench to fire in a 98th-minute goal to give the Reds a 2-1 win at Anfield, as they came from behind having conceded to Newcastle debutant Alexander Isak in the first half.
Roberto Firmino equalised after the break before Carvalho's late winner as he slammed in a loose ball off the crossbar following a corner.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Klopp conceded his team had not been at their best as the visitors tried to stifle them, with Liverpool having just five shots in the first half.
"During the game we should have played more football," he said. "We told the boys in the first half, always when we played football it looked really good, we were dangerous, that was fine.
"Newcastle did really well how they put us under pressure; they had to invest a lot and I think we could see it was really a lot in the last 20, 25 minutes when they started struggling a little bit with the intensity. But we should have done better.
"So we scored the equaliser and then it was just a difficult game to play because we didn't play a lot. All of your colleagues asked me now about it, that's why I mention it, everybody asked me about it – it was just interrupted constantly for some reason and that doesn't give you the momentum. There was no chance to gain any kind of momentum.
"In the end, I was really happy in the moment when we got this last corner in the 98th minute. What Mo [Salah] and Fabio made then of it was obviously absolutely outstanding, a wonderful goal. A perfect moment; that we scored it after 98 minutes, I thought, is the perfect response to everything that happened during the game."
Carvalho joined Liverpool at the end of last season from Fulham and the goal came just four days after his first strike for the club in the 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth, and a day after his 20th birthday.
"He scored now twice in the last two games," Klopp added. "Yesterday, birthday. So it's probably a better week.
"He is an outstanding player, wonderful talent, very mature in a lot of departments already. So I'm really happy for him. Harvey [Elliott] was the best player on the pitch and Fabio decides the game. That says a lot about the talent of the boys."
The German coach did not have everything to smile about though as he revealed his captain, Jordan Henderson, went off with a hamstring injury.
Liverpool are already without Thiago Alcantara, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita from their options in midfield, while Curtis Jones was named on the bench for the first time this season, though was not brought on after only just coming back from injury himself.
Klopp had previously indicated he wanted to sign a midfielder before the end of the transfer window, which closes on Thursday, but seemed pessimistic about doing so in spite of losing Henderson to injury.
"I don't think so," he said when asked about making a signing on Thursday. "But as long as there is time we should not close the door completely.
"Obviously Hendo is injured, he got a hamstring [injury], which is absolutely not helpful.
"[It was] that serious that he couldn't carry on, so it was no tactical change [when he was substituted for Carvalho]."
Carsley hopes 'young' England will benefit incoming boss Tuchel
England interim manager Lee Carsley said the widened pool of young players available for selection will help incoming boss Thomas Tuchel.
Carsley was handed the reins to the national team temporarily following Gareth Southgate's departure and has given opportunities to young players during his short spell, which will end with the Nations League match against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday.
The 50-year-old has handed debuts to six players - Morgan Gibbs-White, Angel Gomes, Noni Madueke, Lewis Hall, Morgan Rogers and Curtis Jones - during his five-match reign.
"The challenge [for the young players] is to stay there now. It's a tough squad to get into, and they've put themselves in the picture," the outgoing coach said.
"It's good for Thomas [Tuchel, who takes charge on January 1] that the pool has increased.
"I've seen them up close. I know what they're capable of, and they've got the mentality to compete. There are so many quality players, the competition is extreme, and they've got to stay in the race."
Carsley came under pressure after the Three Lions lost 2-1 to Greece at Wembley in October, but a 3-0 win in the return fixture on Thursday has put them in a strong position in their Nations League group.
Chelsea 2-0 Manchester City: Bompastor's side go top of WSL with late show
Chelsea left it late, scoring twice in four minutes, to secure a 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Women's Super League to leapfrog them to the top of the table.
Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten got the all-important goals, condemning City to their first league defeat of the campaign.
The visitors, who were without the injured Lauren Hemp, arguably should have taken the lead in the first half when Khadija Shaw latched onto Sandy Baltimore's wayward backpass, but the forward could only drag it wide of the far post.
In a tight game, Chelsea stayed calm, though Ramirez wasted a chance to square it into the box to give a team-mate an easy tap-in early in the second half.
The Colombian did not make the same mistake a second time. On a quick counter-attack, she brushed Alanna Kennedy aside to reach Maika Hamano's throughball before weaving away from Alex Greenwood to drive it into the bottom-right corner in the 75th minute.
Just four minutes later, they doubled their lead. Reiten was left in acres of space on the right of the box and curled a delightful finish out of Ayaka Yamashita's reach.
Chelsea maintained their perfect record under Sonia Bompastor, making it 10 wins from 10, and moved two points clear of City at the top of the WSL, still with a game in hand over their title rivals.
Data Debrief: Battling to the end
Even so early in the season, there was a lot riding on this in regards to the title race, and City have seemingly blinked first.
They looked far from their usual best, possibly in part due to Hemp's absence, as they struggled to create many meaningful chances.
Chelsea were also guilty of being wasteful early on but looked the more likely to score, managing 15 shots compared to City's eight while also edging the expected goals (xG) count (0.85 to 0.56).
Bompastor also became the first-ever manager to win each of their first seven games in the WSL.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
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