LIVERPOOL, England — Only when the second goal came could the home crowd at Anfield finally, guardedly allow itself to breathe. The atmosphere had been taut until that moment, close to an hour into Sunday’s match — Liverpool’s Premier League finale against Middlesbrough.
It had been that way for weeks, for months. A thick tension had coiled around Liverpool, fraying the nerves of its players, darkening the minds of its fans. It had started to feel like a club fixated on, even resigned to, the worst possible case.
It had lifted a little — but only a little — when Georginio Wijnaldum, on the stroke of halftime, gave Liverpool the lead.