A Liverpool academy graduate scored a landmark Premier League goal in the Reds’ 2-0 beating of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on the final day.
The visit of Gary O’Neil’s side marked Jurgen Klopp’s last game on the Liverpool touchline before his emotional departure this summer, at the end of nine glistening years at the helm.
The Reds were already guaranteed to finish third in the standings before Sunday’s 4pm kickoff, while Wolves were safely entrenched in mid-table, making the German’s game a dead-rubber in terms of Premier League permutations.
However, the departing boss stuck with a strong first XI in a bid to sign off on a high note, an endeavour which began promisingly as Alexis Mac Allister nodded home from a Harvey Elliott delivery.
Wolves’ efforts to earn anything from Anfield had already suffered a damaging blow before Mac Allister’s opener, as Nelson Semedo was sent off for a nasty challenge on the Argentine, which was initially deemed yellow-card worthy before Chris Kavanagh changed his mind after a VAR review.
Jarell Quansah scores historic Premier League goal
Just six minutes after Mac Allister found the mark, 21-year-old defender Jarell Quansah bundled home the Reds’ second, latching onto a deflected Mohamed Salah strike inside the six-yard box following a corner.
In doing so, Quansah scored the 1,223rd goal of the 2023-24 Premier League season, surpassing the previous all-time competition record of 1,222, which was set all the way back in the inaugural 1992-93 season.
That year, 22 teams competed in the English top flight compared to the 20 today, and by the end of Sunday’s action, a mammoth 1,246 goals had been racked up, further extending the all-time Premier League record.
An average of 3.28 goals flew in during every game in the 2023-24 season, which saw Manchester City pip Arsenal to the title by two points courtesy of their 3-1 success over West Ham United.
Meanwhile, Luton Town joined Burnley and Sheffield United in heading straight back down to the Championship, while Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will both be back in Europe next season.
Quansah strike fitting farewell milestone for Klopp
While there were a plethora of Premier League farewells on Sunday – a couple of handfuls at Liverpool alone – Quansah’s history-making strike was perhaps the most fitting conclusion to Klopp’s golden nine-year tenure.
A man who has brought scintillating, high-pressing football to Merseyside has often had to lean on the kids in a final campaign blighted by injuries, and Quansah has been one of the success stories from the Kirkby academy ranks.
Regularly challenging established France international Ibrahima Konate for selection this season, Quansah ousted the ex-RB Leipzig man to start each of Liverpool’s final four games, scoring in each of their last two.
From 2024-25 onwards, Quansah and his fellow young proteges – Ben Doak, Bobby Clark, Stefan Bajcetic, Conor Bradley and Kaide Gordon to name but a few – will be under the wing of a man who is fond of an academy talent in Arne Slot, who has overseen the rises of a few highly-rated Feyenoord products in recent times.
The youth-driven vision should therefore only kick up a notch when the Dutchman takes charge at Liverpool, which Klopp is certainly leaving in a much better place than he found it.
