Coutinho sparkles as Reds brush aside Derby County

Coutinho was one of three Liverpool players who missed their penalties in a League Cup Final shoot-out against Manchester City to cost Jurgen Klopp the chance to claim a first piece of silverware in England.

Klopp would love to return and go one step further this season, and Coutinho is clearly in the mood to lead him there.

Against Championship strugglers Derby, the marvellous Brazilian scored and had a hand in all three Liverpool goals, and ensured a tricky-looking tie on paper for his side was anything but.

The link-up play with compatriot Roberto Firmino to score Liverpool's second was special and allowed Klopp to finish the night with three perfect substitutions, allowing Emre Can and Danny Ings to return from injury and give a debut to the next generation in the form of 18-year-old Ovie Ejaria.

As for £5million goalkeeper Loris Karius, he could have hardly enjoyed a simpler debut himself. He snuffed out the one moment of danger to deny Darren Bent on the edge of the box with a dash that was reminiscent of another German sweeper-keeper, Manuel Neuer.

The League Cup remains the only trophy Liverpool have won in the past decade but it's a sign of the changing times at Anfield that Jordan Henderson was the sole member of Tuesday night's side that played in the 2012 final against Cardiff at Wembley.

Klopp has stressed the importance of the domestic cup competitions in a non-European season and though he made seven changes from the side that beat Chelsea in the Premier League. it was still a strong line-up with Coutinho and Firmino flanking Divock Origi and Karius making a belated debut after breaking a hand in pre-season.

Derby must have feared the worst having scored just twice in eight Championship games. Their 32-year-old lone striker Bent once scored an infamous winner against Liverpool but alas there were no stray beach balls on the pitch this time.

Liverpool, wearing their familiar all-red, started like a well-oiled machine albeit one in a low gear.

A couple of pleasing early moves ended with Jordan Henderson and Firmino shooting over rather than testing Derby's 21-year-old rookie 'keeper Jonathan Mitchell but it was no surprise when the visitors did make a breakthrough midway through the first half.

Coutinho's regulation corner could have been cleared by any of four Derby defenders. But two banged into each other at the near post, skipper Richard Keogh missed with an almighty swipe of his right boot and when Ragnar Klavan made awkward contact from eight yards, Cyrus Christie wasn't close enough and the ball deflected off him past Mitchell.

Pretty it wasn't but 30-year-old Klavan celebrated his first Liverpool goal with gusto. At his previous club Augsburg, the Estonian netted only four times in 134 appearances.

Klopp will have felt his side should have wrapped up the tie by half-time. Origi was denied by a splendid flying stop by Mitchell but should still have scored.

The Derby 'keeper was his side's busiest and best player, acrobatically turning over a long-ranger from Coutinho.

At the other end, Karius had to wait 45 minutes to show why he might be a better long-term bet than Mignolet in goal.

Then, in injury-time, Bent suddenly sprung the offside trap and the German was out in a flash to dispossess him on the edge of the box, Neuer style.

It was a warning to Liverpool that a one-goal lead is always fragile no matter how dominant the performance.

So they quickly added two more in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, despite Derby's attempts to shift momentum by introducing local Olympic hockey gold medallist Holly Webb to the crowd at half-time and throwing on former Liverpool trainee Tom Ince for Chris Baird. It didn't work.

The second goal after 50 minutes was a symbol of Klopp's attacking “heavy-metal” football philosophy with Alberto Moreno, with a new bleach-blonde haircut, and Origi surged forward as decoy runners to create space for Firmino on the ball.

With Derby distracted by so many options to combat, the Brazilian slipped a pass inside for his compatriot Coutinho and the No10 strode into the penalty area before sliding a low finish past Mitchell. It was the 24-year-old's first goal since the opening weekend against Arsenal.

It had begun to get embarrassing for the home side. And Liverpool added a third after 55 minutes when Coutinho fed Origi and he smashed a rising shot from an angle on the right-hand side of the penalty area for number three.

Relaxed at last, Klopp was able to send on Emre Can for his first action since an ankle injury sustained in the previous round at Burton and Danny Ings, who hadn't played at all this season after a long recuperation from cruciate damage.

Source: MailOnline

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