The Japanese international received the ball from Sadio Mane inside the penalty box.
Aware of Nathaniel Clyne’s incoming challenge, he took a touch rather than shooting immediately, which unquestionably proved to be the correct decision.
Having earned a little space, Takumi Minamino was able to fire the ball past Vicente Guaita to give Liverpool the lead at Selhurst Park.
It may have taken him a year, but the former Salzburg man had finally scored his first Premier League goal, becoming just the seventh of his countrymen to find the back of the net in England’s top division.
Though as it was only his fourth start in the competition, and they have all been away from home and behind closed doors, his record is nowhere near bad as it might initially seem.
While not the actual assist provider for either goal, Minamino was involved in the moves which led to Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson adding their names to the score sheet against Crystal Palace too. There may not be too much competition, but few would argue that it was the best performance of his disjointed Liverpool career.
And then? Nothing. Minamino has been an unused substitute in the Reds’ last three matches, during which they’ve scored once and only taken two points.
We can only speculate why Jurgen Klopp chose not to call upon his number 18 at any point in those games. The Liverpool manager will undoubtedly have had valid reasons for leaving Minamino on the bench throughout the disappointing performances against West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle United and Southampton.
After all, ‘Taki’ was in the team in south east London because Mohamed Salah was on the bench for the first time in the league this season. Liverpool’s established front three have all started (and completed) the three matches since the Reds’ 7-0 win at Palace.
And while he has played in midfield this season – again away from home, against Brighton and Midtjylland – Minamino’s chances of any game time there will have been stymied by the return to fitness of Thiago Alcantara and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who both started for the first time in at least three months at Southampton.
Nonetheless, Minamino may have provided a spark against tired opposition defences had he been given an opportunity to do so. Mane is the only Liverpool player who has completed more dribbles than he has in the league this season on a pro-rata basis (among men who’ve played for at least 180 minutes).
Even then, the Senegalese forward has been better by less than 0.1 per 90 minutes ( per FBRef ), which illustrates that Minamino has realistically offered as much as anyone when it comes to gliding past opposing players with the ball in 2020/21. This is further evidenced by his dribble success rate of 88.9 per cent, the third best in the Premier League this season.
This was less of an issue at St Mary’s Stadium on Monday evening, but against Newcastle the Reds completed just four dribbles, their fewest of the campaign.
While they were successful with nine against West Brom, that was still their joint-second fewest at Anfield in 2020/21, and really not that many when they had 78 per cent of the possession.
Minamino is also a pressing monster, more so than even Diogo Jota, with his average of 24.7 pressures per 90 minutes second only to Naby Keita among the Liverpool squad this term.
As the Reds have dominated possession in their recent games, perhaps Klopp hasn’t felt his team have particularly needed this skill.
Having someone who can harry opponents to an elite level on the rare occasions they do have the ball is never a bad thing though.
It seems reasonable to assume that Minamino will get an opportunity to play in the FA Cup at Villa Park on Friday, as Klopp will most likely make changes with one eye on the vital clash with Manchester United the following weekend.
Let’s hope the Japanese forward can make the most of his chance and pick up where he left off against Crystal Palace.
