Image Credits: Imago Images
Arne Slot has provided an update on the injury Giorgi Mamardashvili sustained during the Merseyside derby.
Liverpool won a dramatic first Merseyside derby at the Hill Dickinson Stadium 2-1 on Sunday, with Virgil van Dijk heading in a 100th-minute winner to move the Reds seven points clear of Chelsea in the race for Champions League football.
But the victory came at a significant cost, with goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili stretchered off in the second half after a heavy collision, plunging Liverpool’s already stretched goalkeeping resources into a full-blown crisis.
Mohamed Salah, in what was almost certainly his final Merseyside derby appearance, opened the scoring in the 29th minute to give Liverpool a deserved half-time lead.
Everton came out stronger after the break and drew level in the 54th minute when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall delivered a teasing cross from the left that Beto got on the end of to fire Everton level, scoring for the third consecutive game and sending the home end at Hill Dickinson Stadium into delirium.
With the game heading towards a draw and Liverpool’s Champions League push stalling, van Dijk rose highest from a corner in the 100th minute to power a header into the net, sending the travelling Liverpool support into raptures and securing three points that push the Reds onto 55 points from 33 games.
Almost immediately after Beto’s equaliser, Liverpool’s afternoon took a darker turn.
As the ball was fizzed across the box for Beto’s goal, both the Everton striker and Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson went in hard with sliding challenges.
The momentum of both men carried them directly into Mamardashvili at high speed, and the Georgian goalkeeper stayed down immediately in evident pain.
The 25-year-old had started Liverpool’s last six matches as cover for the still-absent Alisson Becker, who has been sidelined with a hamstring issue since March.
After several minutes of treatment on the Hill Dickinson turf, with the silence in the away end indicating the gravity of the situation, medical staff made the decision to stretcher Mamardashvili from the field in the 58th minute.
With Mamardashvili off the field, Freddie Woodman, who joined Liverpool on a free transfer from Preston North End last summer, was thrust into his first Premier League appearance for the club.
The 29-year-old had previously featured only once in Liverpool colours, in a 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace in October.
He held firm for the remaining half hour, kept his composure through a frenzied finish, and was on the pitch when van Dijk’s header settled the contest.
The nature of Mamardashvili’s injury and its severity remain unclear at this stage.
What is not in doubt is that Liverpool now face the real possibility of navigating the final five Premier League fixtures of the season with Woodman as their first-choice goalkeeper, with Alisson targeting a return to full fitness by the end of the month but no firm return date confirmed.
Arne Slot commented on the injury saying, “He is gone off to hospital. It looked to me, and it is also what they told me, an open wound. It will not be a long term injury let’s see if he will be available next week.”
