“Fantastic goalkeeper, fantastic human being.”
Caoimhin Kelleher produced another assured performance for his on-fire Liverpool side as they comfortably took down Man City at Anfield
Since standing in for the Reds’ No. 1 Alisson, the Cork man has gone from strength to strength.
Kelleher kept another clean sheet on Sunday as the Anfield outfit went 11 points ahead of Man City in the Premier League after their 2-0 win.
However, there could have been a nail-biting ending and an embarrassing moment for captain Virgil van Dijk, had Kelleher not stepped up to save his blushes.
The Dutch centre-back was dispossessed far too easily by Kevin de Bruyne who then found himself through on goal.
Kelleher, however, spread himself well to snuffle out the Belgian’s nutmeg attempt.
After the game, Van Dijk, speaking to Off the Ball, sang the praises of his keeper:
“Fantastic goalkeeper, fantastic human being.
“It’s never easy to be a back-up goalkeeper, but obviously in his case he has an unbelievable, amazing goalkeeper in front of him.
“But obviously the time that he has been playing, he has been absolutely outstanding.
“I really enjoy looking at him, seeing him, how much he has improved and played with confidence.
“I remember one of his first games when he won us a penalty shoot-out.
“He’s come from a long way as well and he’s an amazing goalkeeper.
Asked whether manager Arne Slot will have a headache when Allison is back fit, Van Dijk responded:
“Yeah, listen that’s football, you know, so we’ll see.
“The manager decides but he’s done fantastically up until now but we’ll see what happens.”
Caoimhin Kelleher saves De Bruyne shot
On Sky Sports, Gary Neville also spoke about Ireland’s No 1 and the importance of the save.
While Liverpool were up 2-0 at that stage, it would have shifted momentum towards their rivals.
Neville said:
“That shouldn’t go unnoticed at the end of the game, that Kelleher save.
“He knows how close, I’m sure that’ll be doubled up at the end in the changing room.
“He’s just saved his captain some real embarrassment and his club a nervous last 10 minutes.”
With his latest performance coming just days after a clean sheet against Real Madrid, during which he saved a penalty from Kylian Mbappe, Kelleher may even keep his place in the starting lineup when Brazilian Allison returns.
If not, he won’t be short of options at the end of the season should be move on from Anfield.
