Football / News / Sports

Mohamed Salah’s stunning goal earns Liverpool 1-0 win vs Man City

The Egyptian forward was picked out by goalkeeper Alisson and produced a stunning touch and turn, spinning Joao Cancelo in the process.

Salah then kept his composure to steer the ball past Ederson. It was a truly magical goal and has the potential to be one of the standout moments of the season.

The kick. The touch. The turn. The finish. What a sensational goal.

Tight first half at Anfield

Thirteen points separated the Premier League heavyweights at the start of the afternoon.

Previously unbeaten City have been magnificent during the opening weeks of the campaign, inspired by their £51 million summer signing Erling Haaland.

All eyes were on the prolific Norwegian forward at Anfield and he was City’s biggest goal threat during the first half, testing Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson on two occasions.

Haaland will feel that he should have broke the deadlock shortly before half-time with a header from Kevin De Bruyne’s inch-perfect cross.

Liverpool held their own during the opening 45 minutes but only managed to get one shot on target.

Salah’s moment of magic seals Liverpool win

Salah almost put the hosts 1-0 up early in the second half but the Egyptian forward, who scored a lightning-quick hat-trick against Rangers in midweek, saw his effort stopped by a superb Ederson save.

At the opposite end of the pitch, City scored through Phil Foden, only for the goal to be disallowed following a VAR review. Haaland had fouled Fabinho in the build-up to the chance and the goal was chalked off, much to Pep Guardiola’s frustration.

The game had suddenly burst into life. Salah then picked out Diogo Jota moments later but the Portuguese forward headed over the bar.

Alisson then produced another save from Haaland before Salah curled wide with 20 minutes left on the clock.

There was confusion shortly afterwards when it appeared that Salah was one of three players Jurgen Klopp wanted to substitute.

But he stayed on and then scored one of the best goals we’ll see this season in the Premier League, …

Football / Sports

Marcus Rashford kickstarts Erik ten Hag era against listless Reds

Manchester United marked the belated launch of a new era under Erik Ten Hag as they deservedly beat rivals Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Having lost to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford in their opening two games of the new campaign, the Red Devils looked transformed as they outfought and out-thought their arch-rivals to earn their first win under the Dutchman.

Liverpool had ran out 5-0 victors at this stadium en route to falling agonizingly short of a quadruple trophy success last season, but they were well short of those standards in losing out this time around.

Goals in either half from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford gave the revitalized hosts an advantage that they refused to surrender even after Mohamed Salah’s late header set up a potentially grandstand finish.

And that has left Jurgen Klopp searching for answers to a poor start that has seen his side return two draws and a defeat.

Ten Hag’s tough love pays off

Ten Hag’s decision to force his players to take part in a running session the day after their defeat to Brentford was questioned in some quarters.

But the Dutchman’s hardline approach appeared to pay off on Monday evening as his side outfought opponents who are renowned for their hard-working approach under Jurgen Klopp.

By fulltime against Liverpool at Old Trafford, United had run 18.3km more than they had across the 90 minutes in west London.

And that had played no small part in them forcing a team packed with quality into constant mistakes — a key facet of the victory.

Liverpool midfield question persists

If there is one area of the pitch Liverpool fans would most like to see reinforced before the end of the transfer window, it is undoubtedly midfield. The argument for bringing in a fresh face in the center of the park in the next few days was only strengthened by events at Old Trafford.

Admittedly, youngster Harvey Elliott performed well, but he was a rare bright spot in an engine room that largely failed to …

Football / Sports

Sadio Mane Joins Bayern Munich After Six Years in Liverpool

Sadio Mane has just signed for Bayern Munich for a fee of approximately $33.6M USD with $9.1M USD in add-ons.

The striker claimed it was the right time for a challenge, stating, “I’m very happy to finally be with FC Bayern in Munich. We had a lot of talks and I felt the great interest of this big club from the start.” He adding that he was a big fan of Bayern Munich during his time at FC Salzberg.

Bayern Munich’s CEO, Oliver Kahn, said in an official statement that they were delighted to have signed Mane. “With his outstanding performances and his great successes at the highest international level over many years, there are very few players like him in the world. We’re sure that Sadio Mané will delight our fans in the coming years with his spectacular style of play. He’s ambitious and eager to win more titles. This is a very strong package. With players like him at FC Bayern, all the biggest goals are possible,” Kahn said.

The 30-year-old forward departs after spending six years with Liverpool. The attacker joined the Merseyside in 2016 from Southampton, in which he’s won the Premier League, the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup.

The Senegalean forward bid farewell to Liverpool and their fans, claiming that he sent a long text announcing his departure to everyone involved. “That was the plan from the beginning – to leave Liverpool in a very good way. It was fantastic in the club, in the dressing room. I am friendly with everybody, the coaching staff and even the kitchen staff, the ladies in the kitchen! So, for me leaving in a good way is so, so important – and [for] the fans as well,” Mane saod.

It might take some time to get used to for Liverpool fans as Mane leaves after scoring a total of 120 goals in 269 appearances. With just one year left on his contract, he departs shortly after the club-record signing …

Football / Sports

Top Transfer News

Arsenal in talks to sign Man City striker Jesus | £35m Vieira deal ‘close’

Arsenal are in talks to sign Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus while a potential £35m deal for Porto’s Fabio Vieira is getting nearer

Bissouma completes Spurs medical ahead of £35m move

Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma has completed his Tottenham medical ahead of a £35m move to north London.

Calvin Ramsay: Liverpool agree £6.5m deal for Aberdeen right-back

Liverpool have identified the 18-year-old right-back as a long-term rival for Trent Alexander-Arnold; Aberdeen set to bank a club-record £6.5m fee for the talented defender; Ramsay was named SFWA Young Player of the Year this season

 

Bayern set to meet Liverpool’s £42.5m Mane price

Sadio Mane is on the verge of sealing a move to Bayern Munich with the club preparing an improved offer in line with Liverpool’s £42.5 million valuation.

 …

Football / Sports

Darwin Núñez completes move to Liverpool from Benfica

Liverpool has taken another of Portuguese soccer’s best players to strengthen its forward line, with Uruguay striker Darwin Núñez completing his move to Anfield from Benfica for an initial fee of 75 million euros ($78 million) on Tuesday. Núñez’s arrival comes six months after Colombia winger Luis Diaz joined from Porto, Benfica’s big rival, and had an instant impact at Liverpool in the second half of last season. Núñez is expected to become Liverpool’s starting striker as a replacement for Sadio Mané, who has been heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich.

It is an immediate response by Liverpool to the signing of another of European soccer’s top strikers, Erling Haaland, by Premier League title rival Manchester City on Monday. Núñez doesn’t come with as big a reputation as Haaland but has a strong scoring record with Benfica, netting 34 goals in 41 matches last season including two against Liverpool in the Champions League. “I’ve played against Liverpool and I’ve seen them in lots of games in the Champions League, and it’s my style of play,” he said. “There are some great players here and I think it’s going to suit my style of play here.” In a brief statement to the Portuguese stock market, Benfica said Monday the transfer sum for Núñez could rise to 100 million euros ($104 million) based on variables. The transfer is subject to the successful granting of a work permit and international clearance.

Núñez, a tall and technically gifted striker, will offer something new to the attack of Liverpool, which has relied on the mobility of a smaller forward line containing Mohamed Salah, Mané, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota and Diaz. Salah and Firmino both have one year left on their contracts.

Núñez has made 11 appearances for Uruguay and follows in the footsteps of compatriot Luis Suarez in playing for Liverpool. Suarez was at Anfield from 2011-14.…

Football / Sports

Diogo Jota brace fires Liverpool past Arsenal and into Carabao Cup final to face Chelsea

A match that finally took place, but there was no actual contest. Arsenal, it could be argued, still didn’t really play.

Liverpool reached a fifth cup final of Jurgen Klopp’s time, and the first in this competition in six years, by comfortably beating Mikel Arteta’s side 2-0 in the League Cup semi-final second leg. This one wasn’t about false positives but false advertising. It just wasn’t the game that was billed, and certainly didn’t live up the enjoyable chaos that the competition’s semi-finals often offer.

Arteta’s side clearly have so much promise but also some way to go, as they lost another big game. Liverpool, and especially Diogo Jota, were just too good for them. There was almost an inevitability about that given all the ructions of the last week and how the north London derby was postponed. Arsenal could point to a stretched squad and how Thomas Partey came on just hours after arriving back from the African Cup of Nations, only to be sent off in the aimless final minutes.

That ended up being indicative in another way, as it summed up how Arsenal were always stretching to try and bridge the gap to Liverpool, but Klopp’s side were too good.

A side without Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane just showed Arsenal how it’s done, giving a semi-final occasionally clouded by an acrimonious atmosphere a muted finish.

Perhaps the only question from the entire game was whether Jota intended the finish that effectively settled the contest, or mishit it. It is someway irrelevant to the game, given the end result was a goal either way, but it was a rare moment when Aaron Ramsdale looked culpable.

It’s possible he was unsighted, as Jota weaved his way towards the Arsenal box until he had a mass of bodies diving in from all angles.

Jota went for the finish, hitting a shot low to the right that almost trickled in. Ramsdale had been completely wrong-footed.

Such a slow shot similarly took some of the pace out of the game. Arsenal’s …

Football / Sports

Champions League: Liverpool survive Atletico Madrid comeback

Liverpool survived an Atletico Madrid fightback to win 3-2 and Lionel Messi scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to beat RB Leipzig by the same score on a breathless night of Champions League action on Tuesday.

In other games, Karim Benzema netted for Real Madrid as the 13-time European champions thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in Ukraine on the eve of the start of his trial in France on charges of complicity in blackmail.

Much of the night’s drama happened at the Wanda Metropolitano in the Spanish capital where Mohamed Salah scored another impressive goal, twisting away from a string of Atletico defenders before his shot deflected in off James Milner to open the scoring.

Naby Keita doubled Liverpool’s lead with a stunning volley but Atletico hit back with French international Antoine Griezmann scoring twice to fire up the home crowd.

Just as Atletico seemed to have the upper hand, Griezmann was given a straight red card for a high boot in the face of Roberto Firmino.

A pulsating game was decided from the penalty spot in the 78th minute as Salah sent Jan Oblak the wrong way after Mario Hermoso pushed Diogo Jota. The Egyptian’s 31st Champions League goal makes him the club’s top scorer in the competition, overtaking Steven Gerrard.

In a dramatic finish, Atletico were denied a penalty when the referee studied the VAR and decided Jota had not fouled Jose Maria Gimenez.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told BT Sport: “We played a really solid second half in a tough game with intense football from both teams.

“We got the penalty, then there was a red card and obviously it was in our favor.”

The Reds are top of Group B with three wins out of three while Atletico are equal on four points with Porto, who beat AC Milan 1-0 in Portugal.…

Football / Sports

Salah Signs New Long-Term Liverpool Deal

Mohamed Salah has signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool, the Premier League club have confirmed.
According to multiple reports, the deal runs until 2023 and contains no release clause.
Despite only joining from Roma just over a year ago, Liverpool have rewarded Salah following a sensational debut season on Merseyside that saw him finish with 44 goals in 52 appearances.
The Egypt international secured the Premier League Golden Boot, finding the net 32 times to finish ahead of Tottenham’s Harry Kane with a new competition record for goals in a 38-game season.
Salah was also a key part of Jurgen Klopp’s squad in Europe, helping them reach the Champions League final.
However, the 26-year-old’s involvement in the showpiece event was cut short by a shoulder injury suffered in a first-half challenge with Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos, as Liverpool lost 3-1 in Kiev.
…