Cardiff City 0-2 Liverpool: Gini Wijnaldum becomes the hero of the goals

He does not get a lot these days, Gini Wijnaldum.

When it does, however, they tend to be quite important.

The Dutchman may not have scored a more critical goal than the one who opened the way on Sunday in a sunny stadium in Cardiff City Stadium.

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The arrival of Wijnaldum, nailed home 11 minutes after the break, calmed Liverpool. James Milner, called from the bench, kept his cool from the penalty spot to win the points in the finals. Their 2-0 win was won nine minutes from the end.

One day when Jurgen Klopp's team just had to win, she did it. It was not pretty, it was not particularly convincing, but it will be fine. At this point of the season, everything will be fine. In this race for the most outstanding, the Reds are still very alive and in great shape.

Now, all eyes will fall on Manchester, and the Wednesday Derby match at Old Trafford. Liverpool stay full of hope, but the games are exhausting. Manchester City seat second, but keeps – just – the advantage at the top of the Premier League. Defeat Manchester United and Burnley on Sunday, and it's hard to imagine Pep Guardiola's team could slip in after that. Next week should be crucial.

Liverpool, however, can only do what they can do. The next three games – Huddersfield, Newcastle and Wolves – are attractive. After another blank sheet and a new win against a team in the lower half of the table, Klopp's men expect to take nine out of nine points.

They were made to work for this victory. They lost all their chances in the first 45 minutes, Roberto Firmino having lost his aid and Mohamed Salah having been denied by Neil Etheridge for the purpose of Cardiff.

the Bluebirds, roared by a noisy home crowd, did what they could to disrupt Liverpool's pace. They delayed their penalty shoot-out and other set-up kicks, they put Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk to the challenge of winning a series of aerial duels. They notably went to Trent Alexander-Arnold on their left flank.

For a moment, they threatened to get something. If Alisson Becker had not been alert by the end of the semester, Cardiff could even have gone through Oumar Niasse.

In this case, Liverpool would have made the first decisive blow after the interval.

It was also one of the training ground. Wijnaldum, who had scored only a goal outside the Premier League for the Reds before Sunday, perfectly scheduled his arrival to meet Alexander Arnold's tight turn and replay the ball past Etheridge for his third goal of the campaign. The end of the race, good voice all along, broke out.

They almost fainted when Jordan Henderson offered an opportunity for fame a few minutes later, then when Alisson misjudged the corner of Joe Ralls soon after. Fortunately for his goalkeeper, Sean Morrison failed to convert with the goal at his mercy. The referee may very well have whistled a foul on Alisson in any case.

Morrison's misery worsened when his misguided aggression against Salah in the penalty area resulted, quite rightly, in a free-kick. Milner, hired for Fabinho, who had replaced Naby Keita instead a few moments earlier, was cold in the sun to bury at 12 meters and that was it.

"We were ready to have the skin of a banana and we knew it well," said Klopp, radiant. "The boys were amazing."

As might be expected, Neil Warnock blasted the officials, saying that Salah's sentence was light. "A plunge of 9.9," said Cardiff boss, while suggesting that a similar offense committed on Morrison by Andy Robertson on the other end should have been punished. His team remains rooted in the relegation zone with three games to play.

But Liverpool move sure. In Huddersfield, and what should be a banker at home Friday night.

But before that, they will turn to Old Trafford. To you, Pep.