Liverpool win Premier League title
LIVERPOOL - Liverpool demolished Tottenham 5-1 to clinch the Premier League title at an impassioned Anfield on Sunday, sealing a record-equalling 20th English top-flight crown.
Arne Slot's men stormed back after conceding a surprise early goal to dominate the first half as the decibel level soared among the 60,000-plus crowd.
Liverpool, who can no longer be caught by second-placed Arsenal, are now level with bitter rivals Manchester United as the joint-most successful club in English top-flight history.
Slot's men started on the front foot at an expectant Anfield after a stirring rendition of club anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" in the warm spring sunshine.
Mohamed Salah had an early sighter and Cody Gakpo went close with a spectacular overhead kick but Tottenham briefly threatened to become party poopers when Dominic Solanke powered home a header from a James Maddison corner in the 12th minute.
But Liverpool were level just four minutes later when Luis Diaz converted Dominik Szoboszlai's cross from close range. The offside flag went up but VAR awarded the goal.
The momentum was now all with Liverpool and the home side took the lead in the 24th minute when Alexis Mac Allister thundered the ball home from the 18-yard line past the flying Guglielmo Vicario.
AFP | Paul ELLIS
Now the party was well and truly started and Gakpo made it 3-1, slamming a shot into the bottom corner after Spurs failed to clear.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou had made eight changes from the team that lost to Nottingham Forest last week as he prioritises the semi-finals of the Europa League and they now had a mountain to climb.
The Liverpool fans -- deprived of celebrating the 2020 Premier League trophy due to Covid restrictions, ran through their full repertoire of songs as their team pushed for a fourth goal in the second half.
- Salah selfie -
Top-scorer Salah scored the goal the crowd craved, collecting Szoboszlai's pass before cutting in and blasting his shot into the bottom corner.
AFP | Paul ELLIS
He celebrated by grabbing a fan's phone before taking a selfie in front of the Kop.
Deafening cheers of "We're going to win the league" and "We shall not be moved" rang out.
Liverpool had a fifth when Spurs defender Destiny Udogie poked the ball past his own goalkeeper from close range with about 20 minutes to go as the game turned into a procession.
As the game went into added time the club's anthem rang out again as scarves were held aloft and the final whistle elicited a thunderous roar.
"It was clear we couldn't lose this game," said Slot.
"Everyone on the bus said there's no way we're going to lose this game. They always find a way to win.
"Incredibly proud, not only of the players but the people standing here, sport directors, my staff members, we should give them a big round of applause.
"Let's forget it's the second in 35 years, it's the second in five years (second since 2020)."
The win leaves Liverpool on 82 points, 15 clear of nearest challengers Arsenal with just four games remaining.
Tottenham are a miserable 16th in the Premier League table after their 19th defeat of the season, putting Postecoglou under enormous pressure.
Tens of thousands of fans swarmed around Anfield in the build-up to kick-off in anticipation of Liverpool's coronation, setting off flares as the home team bus arrived.
Flags and scarves saying "Liverpool 20-time Champions" were on sale from stalls outside the ground.
At the start of the campaign, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City were favourites to extend their dynastic Premier League reign and make it five titles in a row but their form collapsed.
AFP | Paul ELLIS
Arsenal emerged as their closest challengers but they drew too many games, failing to take advantage of the rare Liverpool slip-ups.
It was feared Liverpool's players would need time to adapt to the methods of Slot, who replaced Jurgen Klopp last June following the German's departure after nine trophy-filled years at Anfield.
But the former Feyenoord boss has sailed serenely through the season despite relentless speculation over the futures of three of his biggest stars -- Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Both Salah and Van Dijk have now signed two-year extensions, though England defender Alexander-Arnold is believed likely to be on the verge of a move to Real Madrid.
jw/bsp
By John Weaver
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
3 hours ago
- eNCA
Three things we learned from the World Test Championship final
UK - South Africa shed their unwanted tag as nearly men with a decisive five-wicket win over Australia in the World Test Championship final on Saturday. Victory, secured by Aiden Markram's superb hundred, with South Africa captain Temba Bavuma making a valuable fifty, ended years of tournament heartache for the Proteas following multiple failures at the One-Day International and T20 World Cups. Below AFP Sport looks at three key points that emerged from a fascinating final at Lord's. Two of the three WTC finals have now been won by teams outside cricket's 'Big Three' powerhouse nations of England, Australia and India after New Zealand's inaugural 2021 triumph. At a time when there are widespread fears that red-ball cricket could become the preserve of the Big Three alone, this is perhaps a sign of Test cricket's enduring competitiveness. South Africa, however, will not be playing a home Test during the upcoming 2025/26 season. And several South African observers reckoned there were more fans supporting Bavuma's men at Lord's than had seen at a home Test in years. There has long been talk of setting up a Test match fund to help cricket's financially poorer nations defray some of the costs of staging five-day games. Such a move could improve the WTC, with the current format under fire because teams do not all have to play each other or the same number of matches. "We want to play more Test cricket," said Bavuma after the final. "We want to play against the bigger nations. So I think this will go a long way in making us a lot more attractive." AFP | Glyn KIRK With 28 wickets falling on the first two days, there was inevitably talk about whether the pitch was too much in favour of the fast bowlers on both sides. But research by analysts at CricViz found there was in fact less movement in some areas than is typical for Lord's. Not for the first time, minimal preparation was more likely the cause of the batsmen's troubles adapting to English conditions. Australia didn't have a solitary practice match in England. The experienced Steve Smith was responsible for the lone fifty by a specialist Australia batsman in the final. The title-holders still led by 74 runs after the first innings, after making 212, but Australia captain Pat Cummins said: "We could have batted the opposition out of the game by putting on well over 300 plus. We didn't give ourselves a big enough buffer and we let them back into the game." Catches still win matches AFP | Glyn KIRK The worth of the saying "catches win matches" was underlined by a sensational South Africa fielding display on the first day. After Bavuma won the toss and elected to bowl first in overcast fielding conditions, he needed his pacemen to be on their game. Kagiso Rabada, who went on to take an impressive nine wickets in the match, was on target from ball one. But Rabada and the rest of the pace attack were backed up superbly as the South Africa slip cordon and wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne held several stunning catches. By contrast advanced slip Smith's drop of Bavuma, when the Proteas skipper had made just two, during the run chase helped turn the game South Africa's way.
The South African
a day ago
- The South African
'No single footballer is bigger than the mighty Orlando Pirates'
Orlando Pirates have a massive winter ahead of them with incoming and outgoings expected. Can they ship Monnapule Saleng off to the highest bidder? 27-year-old Saleng has attracted interest from Europe. The mercurial winger is at an impasse with the club after not featuring in 2025. The player's reluctance to stay is a big issue, but that doesn't mean they can't get a good sum for the 26-year-old. The record departure in Pirates history was €2.3 million (R44 million) when Mbulelo 'Oldjohn' Mabizela moved to Tottenham in 2003-2004. It's unlikely the Sea Robbers can fetch a number in that region, but there's no reason why the 2022-2023 PSL Player of the Year shouldn't command a decent fee. There was reported interest from Monaco in France's Ligue 1 and Standard Liege in Belgium. They should be looking to recover at least half (R22 million), especially if they can bring Sundowns to the market. The main question there is, do they want to strengthen a rival? Rulani drops cryptic comments amid Pirates links R40 million, or something in that ball-park, would be a wonderful amount of money for the board to use when securing more local talent. If no single player is bigger than their club, then everyone's got a price. Sesane fitness update Will the Chiefs slayer return? Image: @orlandopirates / X Will Saleng still be in the PSL next season? Let us know by leaving a comment below, or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
Liverpool bank on 'world-class' Wirtz after record deal
Here we go Germn midfielder Florian Wirtz is set to complete a move to Liverpool in the Premier League. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP Image: Franck Fife/AFP The golden boy of German football is set to become the new prince of the Premier League as Florian Wirtz prepares to join Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen for a club-record fee. Fresh from winning a 20th English top-flight title, Arne Slot's Reds have broken the bank to land a rising star already labelled as one of the world's best by former Reds midfielder and Wirtz's former coach Xabi Alonso. British media reported on Friday that the Premier League champions had agreed a club-record deal worth up to £116 million ($157 million) to secure the services of the attacking midfielder. Liverpool can now agree personal terms with a player coveted by a number of top European clubs. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Wirtz's abundant potential as a teenager sparked a row between his hometown club Cologne and Leverkusen five years ago when Leverkusen, who are backed by pharmaceutical giants Bayer, swooped to sign him at 17. Cologne argued that a gentleman's agreement not to poach youth team players had been violated, but Leverkusen said Wirtz was a first-team signing and within months he had made his Bundesliga debut. His rise was interrupted by a cruciate knee ligament injury in March 2022 that forced him to miss the next 10 months. By the time he returned, Alonso had been installed as Leverkusen boss and together they would spearhead the club's greatest days. Leverkusen ended Bayern Munich's grip on the Bundesliga in stunning fashion, romping to the title and the German Cup without losing a single match in the 2023/24 season. Wirtz netted his first career hat-trick on the day the title was sealed against Werder Bremen, on his way to being crowned Bundesliga player of the year. "Flo is one of the top players in the world, he's world class," said Alonso, who compared his protege to Lionel Messi in terms of his understanding of the game. "Why is Messi so good? Because he knows how and when to play simple passes. Messi says: 'You're in a better position? Here, there you have the ball'," said Alonso, a hero of Liverpool's 2005 Champions League triumph. "It's not always about making the most brilliant move, but the best and smartest. Florian can do that. That's why he's so good." 'The full package' Both star player and coach committed to staying with the Leverkusen project for another 12 months, but defeat in the Europa League final to Atalanta to round off the 2023/24 campaign was a sign of things to come. Bayern restored their grip on the German game last season but could not convince Wirtz to follow the lead of many others in joining from their Bundesliga rivals. Instead, he made it clear his preference was a move to the Premier League champions and the chance to add his name to Liverpool's cast of legends. "A huge talent, huge future in front of him, so Liverpool is the place for him," said the club's former captain Steven Gerrard. Despite 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games for Leverkusen, Wirtz will begin life at Anfield in the shadow of Mohamed Salah. But the Reds are banking on Wirtz's creativity to help maintain the 32-year-old's prolific goalscoring numbers and ease the burden of carrying the Liverpool attack. The club's previous record signing, £85 million recruit Darwin Nunez, has failed to deliver and could be sold to help recoup some of their major outlay on new faces. Liverpool will hope Wirtz can handle the pressure of his price tag and the physicality of the Premier League to ensure there is no second season slump under Slot. Former Germany head coach Hansi Flick is in no doubt about what the midfielder has to offer. "He's simply an outstanding technician, loves to play, is very creative, has a good shot, runs hard and is quick," he said. "He's the full package." AFP Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
