Why the mad dash to report on last-minute goals is as exhilarating as the game itself

Every so often, a late point will arrive, sending adrenaline pulsing through your body. Then, the words come to you with all the verve and fluency of one of Liverpool’s counter-attacks

Sadio Mane of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Liverpool FC at Villa Park (Getty)

When Jurgen Klopp entered Villa Park’s press conference room on Saturday tea-time, shortly after Liverpool’s late 2-1 win, he described the emotions elicited by Sadio Mane’s stoppage-time winner as “the best possible in football”. If he had spent his afternoon in the press seats rather than the away dugout, he would have felt quite different.

Over the last month, I have covered five Liverpool games. They have scored crucial result-altering goals in the 75th, 85th, 87th, 94th and 95th minutes. Another 94th-minute goal came in a game which ended 5-5, reducing my match report to little more than 10 meditations on the various ways a ball can hit the back of a net.

For Klopp, this sort of thing is exhilarating. For us, it is exhausting. There is simply nothing more anxiety-inducing to your humble football hack than a late goal which swings the result one way or another, destroying large swathes of a carefully-crafted piece in the process, mere minutes before your deadline.