Luis Diaz’ first Liverpool goal came at the culmination of a fabulous team move.
The most eye-catching aspect was the pass from Jordan Henderson to the Colombian which created the goal.
It was the sixth through-ball assist the Reds have played this season, a tally only four sides in Europe’s big five leagues have topped.
But it was the passage of play leading up to that point that was even more notable.
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Henderson’s sumptuous assist was preceded by 33 passes by him and his teammates, which made it the longest possession sequence (in terms of total passes, rather than time) which has led to a Premier League goal in 2021/22.
Jurgen Klopp praised his team’s work during his pre-match press conference ahead of the vital match against Leeds United.
“These moments are rare, you work so hard to get any advantage but if you have it, we are able to do some nice stuff. 34 passes, I loved them all,” he said.
"The last pass from Hendo was pretty special. We had a big gap in the centre which Luis used and that was because of our movement. That's how football should look."
It really was a fantastic example of a team recycling the ball while probing for an opening. The only Liverpool player not to have a touch in the build-up play was Divock Origi, and his movement dragged Ben Gibson out of position, creating the space Diaz needed to receive the crucial pass.
Opta revealed that this move featured the most passes leading to a goal which the Reds have scored in the league since they started collecting the data in 2006/07.
It was some way short of the record though. While it’s hard to be certain what that is, Nacer Chadli scored for Tottenham after a 48-pass move against Queens Park Rangers in 2014, which will be very tough to beat.
But not necessarily impossible. After all, in a League Cup tie against Bournemouth in 2014, Raheem Sterling opened the scoring for Liverpool at the end of an incredible 51-pass move.
And three years later, Manchester City netted against West Bromwich Albion in the same competition when Leroy Sane rounded off a 52-pass sequence. Always looking to one up the Reds, eh?
More important than holding any kind of record on this front is an ability to score goals of this nature on a fairly regular basis.
Teams can feel that their goal is secure if the opposition is merely moving the ball around in front of their defence with no apparent intent. The key for the attacking side is to pick the right moment to play an incisive pass.
Liverpool have demonstrated on several occasions in the last two seasons that they are very capable of doing this.
The Analyst recently revealed that the Reds have also been responsible for the fourth longest pass sequence for a Premier League goal this season, by Henderson in the 2-2 draw against Brighton.
Although the assist pass – the 25th of the move – was a relatively simple pull back by Mohamed Salah, the attack flourished thanks to a trademark long ball from Virgil van Dijk out to the Egyptian.
Liverpool also scored following 22-pass moves against both Leeds and Brentford. The latter was similar to Diaz’ goal against Norwich in that it took an excellent pass (in this case from Fabinho) to unlock the defence at the key moment.
In last season’s home win over Leicester, Andy Robertson’s cross to scorer Diogo Jota followed a 31-pass sequence, and the Reds arguably had a move featuring 35 passes when Gini Wijnaldum scored at West Ham.
It didn’t count as an unbroken sequence because Declan Rice got a toe to the penultimate pass, but the general point still stands.
Liverpool might have set a new club record with Diaz’ first goal in red but they’ve been showing they can hurt teams in similar fashion for a long time.
