When Curtis Jones announced himself to Anfield with the winning penalty in a Carabao Cup shoot-out against Arsenal in October, he did so with a two-step run up and a strike of such pure precision no goalkeeper could ever have saved it. It hit the post and went in at the Kop End.
On Sunday at Anfield, with the stakes even higher and the profile even bigger, the 18-year-old advanced to the next level of excellence. Once again it was the right foot but this time there was no run up at all, just a strike of such technical brilliance from 19 yards that England’s goalkeeper Jordan Pickford could only feel in vain for it as he arced above him and in off the cross bar.