Day to remember for Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott as Liverpool ease past Cardiff in FA Cup

Luis Diaz’s Liverpool career was 10 minutes old when he offered the first evidence that Jurgen Klopp has again displayed his ability to find a forward in the transfer market.

Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota are signs he has a golden touch and while Diaz’s debut did not contain a goal for him, it did bring one for Takumi Minamino, who may drift down the pecking order after the £50 million (€67.7m) man’s arrival.

Diaz capitalised a breakdown in communication in the Cardiff defence, dispossessed Perry Ng and teed-up Minamino. It came courtesy of Klopp’s favourite tactic game from a player who has barely had time to work with his new teammates. “Incredible high press, I love it,” smiled his new manager.

There was a painful sequel courtesy of an accidental collision with Cardiff’s Aden Flint. “I saw the big fellow of Cardiff standing on his knee,” Klopp noted. “Now he has his first assist and his first scar. But it is nothing serious.”

But Liverpool could celebrate a new start and a fresh start as, for just the second time in Klopp’s reign, they booked a place in the last 16 of the FA Cup and an Anfield date with Norwich City.

Harvey Elliott’s return, 21 weeks after he dislocated his ankle, has come quicker than many expected and was capped by a maiden Liverpool goal. It was taken superbly, the 18-year-old turning to unleash an unstoppable half-volley after he met Andy Robertson’s cross. “With the goal it became a proper fairy tale,” grinned Klopp. “It was a horrible injury. When we lost him at Leeds, it was one of the hardest moments of my career.”

Diaz and Elliott came on together, a double change featuring two men who could figure together prominently in the future. Yet Klopp had waited to bring each on until