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The Hindu
a day ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Late Salah, Chiesa goals give Liverpool 4-2 win over Bournemouth in thrilling Premier League opener
Liverpool talisman Mo Salah and substitute Federico Chiesa struck late goals as the Premier League champions began the defence of their title by beating Bournemouth 4-2 in a thriller on the opening night of the season at Anfield on Friday (August 15, 2025). On a bittersweet evening charged with emotion after the July death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, newcomer Hugo Ekitike bagged a goal on his league debut to put the hosts ahead after 37 minutes and Cody Gakpo doubled the lead in the 49th. But Antoine Semenyo, who was the target of racist abuse in the first half that led to a pause in the game, pulled one back for the visitors in the 64th minute and completed a double 12 minutes later to rock Liverpool and shock the home fans. However, Chiesa came off the bench and sent the Anfield faithful away happy with an 88th-minute strike after goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic swatted away a ball into the box by Salah, who scored himself deep into added time to wrap up the three points. "Fantastic," Liverpool boss Arne Slot said of Italian forward Chiesa's goal. "He came in in the end because we needed a goal. For him then to score in such a moment is special. "It's even more special because the fans have supported him. It's nice he gives them something in return with a great goal." With Liverpool ahead again, Salah chased the ball past the defence before cutting inside and firing into the bottom corner with a 94th-minute goal that put the Egyptian joint-fourth with Andy Cole on the all-time Premier League scorers' list with 187. An emotional Salah pointed to the heavens and flapped two hands to mimic Jota's shark goal celebration. He headed for The Kop stand after the final whistle, and wiped away tears while applauding the fans who were singing their Jota song to the tune of "Bad Moon Rising." Jota tribute The night started with an emotional minute's silence for Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who died in a car crash. Fans fought back tears as they sang "You'll Never Walk Alone." Ekitike, who has joined from Eintracht Frankfurt, was the most impressive of Slot's close-season signings in a spending spree topping 300 million pounds ($406.53 million). "Obviously I think it was a good performance, I could do better," said the French forward -- who held up two fingers in one hand, and made a zero with the other in a tribute to Liverpool's Jota, who wore number 20 -- after his goal. "But the most important thing was winning, the mentality we showed. Obviously we wanted to win tonight for the people who came and for Diogo," added the 23-year-old forward. Racist abuse The game was halted for several minutes after Bournemouth's Ghana international Semenyo reported the racist abuse. "It's totally unacceptable," Bournemouth captain Adam Smith said. "Kind of in shock to be honest that it happened. In this day and age it shouldn't be happening. "I don't know how Ant's played on to be honest and come up with those goals ... Something has to be done. We'll support him in there and hopefully he'll be ok."
The Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Liverpool pays tribute to Diogo Jota in emotional Premier League opener
LIVERPOOL paid an emotional tribute to Diogo Jota as the Premier League season kicked off at Anfield on Friday. The Portuguese forward, who died last month aged 28, was remembered alongside his brother Andre Silva in a tragic accident in northern Spain. Just 11 days before the crash, Jota had married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children. A banner displayed at The Kop stand read: 'Rute, Dinis, Duarte, Mafalda - Anfield will always be your home. You'll Never Walk Alone.' Fans held up a giant mosaic with Jota and Silva's initials and shirt numbers during a minute's silence before the match against Bournemouth. Liverpool retired Jota's number 20, and a permanent sculpture will be placed outside Anfield in his memory. The squad will wear 'Forever 20' on their shirts and matchday jackets for the rest of the season. Liverpool manager Arne Slot said in his programme notes: 'The tributes that have been paid throughout the football world, and especially within the LFC community, have been truly special.' He added: 'I believe that Diogo's wife, his children and his family will be in attendance and it is important that, as a club, we show that they will always have our love and support.' Jota joined Liverpool from Wolves in 2020 and spent five successful years at the club. During his time at Anfield, he won the Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup. - AFP
The Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Liverpool fans pay touching tribute to Diogo Jota in first Premier League match since star's tragic death
FANS paid touching tributes to Diogo Jota as they watched Liverpool's opening game of the season tonight. The Reds kicked off their Premier League title defence against Bournemouth at Anfield at 8pm this evening. 13 13 13 Fans applauded as a mosaic honouring the Portuguese attacker and his brother Andre was passed across The Kop and the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand before kick off. A moment of silence was also held before the game in honour of the beloved player and his brother. The club and its millions of fans around the world have been in mourning since Diogo and Andre both died in a car crash in Spain on July 3 as they drove to catch a ferry back to England for the start of Liverpool's pre-season. At the 20 minute mark, the crowds were up on their feet and gave Jota a huge ovation. Scarfs and shirts bearing the player's name were held aloft as Anfield serenaded a spine tingling version of 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. Prior to the tributes manager Arne Slot wrote: 'We know that this will be a very emotional occasion, given it is the first league game we have played since we lost Diogo and Andre. 'As I have said previously, the tributes that have been paid throughout the football world, and especially within the LFC community, have been truly special, and I know that tonight we will come together to honour them once more. 'I believe that Diogo's wife, his children and his family will be in attendance and it is important that, as a club, we show that they will always have our love and support as they deal with this most tragic of situations. We are there for them always.' Club captain Virgil van Dijk added in his notes: 'Tonight, of course, will be the first Premier League game we have played since we lost Diogo and Andre. 'It will be a very emotional occasion for everybody associated with the club, and especially for Diogo's wife, Rute, their children and his family, who will be in attendance this evening. 'They remain, of course, the most important people in all of this, and it is important that we as a club – players, staff, supporters – are there for them always, and that they know that they will always be loved and welcomed here at Anfield. 'I know that will be the case. Liverpool is a family, and tonight we will show that once more.' Meanwhile Liverpool team-mate Alexis Mac Allister paid and emotional tribute in his recent article for the Players' Tribune. He said: "Obviously, and with great emotion, I want to dedicate this paragraph to Diogo. I still can't understand how he left us so early. I always had a good relationship with him, but this past year even more so. "He was always a very down-to-earth, family-oriented person, and never tried to pretend to be something he wasn't. 13 13 13 13 13 "One day he would come and give you the hug of a lifetime, and the next day he wouldn't even say hello, hahaha. "We loved to 'take the p**s,' and we always found a way, whether it was our Messi vs Cristiano arguments, or just playing cards. It was part of the game. I will always choose to remember him with a smile. "And I know that with that smile, he'll be supporting us from above. If you don't believe that, then just look at the minute [Jeremie] Frimpong scored in the Community Shield. The 20th. These are signs. "I'd like to take this opportunity to send my warmest regards to his family, whom we must never forget, as they are the ones who are suffering the most from the tragic passing of him and his brother Andre. My respect and love to all of them." Liverpool has retired his No 20 shirt and plan to create a grassroots programme in his name. The release of Liverpool's new Adidas home and away kits came with Jota's 'Diogo J. 20' shirts available and it was the second-best seller, with all profits of official sales going to the LFC Foundation. A moment's silence will be observed at all top-flight matches this weekend in memory of Diogo and his brother. Chelsea have also been revealed to be donating part of their £11.4million team bonus for winning the Club World Cup to Cardoso and Jota's family. His previous club, Wolves, will also hold a tribute to the forward at Molineux ahead of their season opener with Manchester City on Saturday. The club have released a commemorative 100-page programme for the match, dedicated to Jota and his brother. The programme will celebrate his journey with the club and give fans some never-before-seen behind-the-scenes media with the icon, as well as including tributes from the players and staff who were closest to him. The universal tributes show that wherever Jota's career has taken him, he left a beloved figure. Jota featured won the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup with Liverpool and also won the Championship with his previous club Wolves. He also won international honours with Portugal as he lifted the Nations League titles twice. 13 13 13 13
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Trent Alexander-Arnold is joining Liverpool's rivals - you can understand why fans would boo
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. As media, quite often you attend a match with an idea of what angle you'll be writing about post-match and sometimes the events of the match dictate the angle. At Anfield on Sunday it was both, as the party mood in the stands turned sour by the introduction of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Liverpool fans, with the sun again making for a perfect day on Merseyside, extended their party from Tottenham two weeks ago. The stands were awash with red shirts and plenty of banners and flags pointing to the club's 20th league title success, plus a couple referencing another trophyless season for their opponents. 'Where's your European Cup,' chanted The Kop, which later turned to 'Best team in Europe, you're having a laugh' as Arne Slot's side raced into the lead thanks to two goals in 87 seconds. But, while Liverpool looked great on the pitch and sounded superb in the stands, there was an elephant in the room, lurking on the Reds' bench. This was the first game since Alexander-Arnold had announced his decision to leave Liverpool, with a free transfer move to Real Madrid set to bring down the curtain on his association with his boyhood club. Slot had already explained that Conor Bradley, the heir to the throne at right-back, would start the match, but the question was whether Alexander-Arnold would be in the squad. For any supporter arriving at Anfield, they knew that Alexander-Arnold being in the squad would mean a sideshow for what was to come. It was inevitable that the reception would be mixed - although, to many, quite how negative the reception was was a little surprising. Many hoped Alexander-Arnold would simply be ignored. It would be the best way to handle the situation. And that's how it began. There was little reaction when his name was read out pre-match, and again while warming up in the first half (albeit in front of the less vociferous Main Stand). But with Bradley on a yellow card and having not completed 90 minutes since the start of February, Slot needed a sub. 'I have a world-class full-back on the bench, I bring him in,' he said pragmatically post-match. As Alexander-Arnold put on the red shirt on the bench, The Kop made pointed references to loyalty by belting out the song for Steven Gerrard - 'a Scouser born and bred' - followed by 'Bring on your Internazionale' which features the lyric 'Real Madrid, who the f**k you trying to kid…' It's at this point that it's worth noting that Liverpool supporters see Real Madrid as a main rival. They are two of the three sides to have won the European Cup the most times and have contested two Champions League finals in the last decade, the Reds losing both. In that time there's also been a quarter-final loss and a knockout defeat that inflicted Liverpool's heaviest home European loss in the process. Said Alexander-Arnold himself in an interview earlier this season, referring to Man City and Real Madrid: 'Probably they are our two biggest rivals in Europe and domestically over the last five or six years.' Liverpool fans see the Spanish club as not just a main rival but also the antithesis of what Liverpool as a club and a city stand for. They're the Ballon d'Or club - something that Alexander-Arnold has outlined his desire to win, seeking individual acclaim over the team. Liverpool is a club that celebrates hard-working, humble heroes. "I believe in everyone working for each other, everyone having a share of the rewards,' said Bill Shankly in one of his most famous quotes. 'It's the way I see football, the way I see life.' Alexander-Arnold has chosen a different life, a life where celebrity and ego go hand in hand in Madrid. That's his choice and, in his own words, he knew the decision would not sit well with the fanbase. 'People won't be happy with the decision,' he said in his farewell video. It is, though, quite sad that this has become a distraction when the club are celebrating its first title with supporters in 35 whether a supporter agrees or takes part in the booing is almost irrelevant, it's a distraction that need not happen. Slot could have put a line under it all by announcing before the match that he would use only players who are committed to the club for next season. Nobody would have argued it, even Alexander-Arnold would have surely understood it. Instead, Slot, has explained that he will continue to use Alexander-Arnold in the final two matches, including the final home game against Crystal Palace that will see the Reds lift the Premier League trophy at Anfield. Insisted Slot: 'The thing I consider is I want to win a game of football and if we think we can win this one with Trent, I owe it to his teammates and to the fans, because they hired me to win as many games of football as possible.' It's a line of thinking which is understandable but also pretty flawed, with Alexander-Arnold's introduction proving counterproductive in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, being introduced with Liverpool ahead at 2-1. This is where Slot's insistence that Alexander-Arnold's introduction wasn't a distraction is quite baffling. As Alexander-Arnold arrived onto the pitch, Mohamed Salah made a gesture towards The Kop to stop the boos, actions that were repeated post-match by Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai. It quite clearly soured the atmosphere in the stands, and players are only human, they too would have been shocked by their teammate and friend receiving such a reception. Andy Robertson spoke well on his feelings, saying: 'There's a lot of emotion around it [..] it is, of course, an emotional decision and it's not been an easy one, but he's made the decision and it's not nice to see your friend get booed and it wasn't nice. We can't tell people how to act, but I can tell you how I feel about it.' Again, this is quite sad given the incredible scenes the players and supporters shared together on that same pitch a fortnight ago. Slot, though, doesn't think it could prove a problem in celebrating the title: 'I don't think there is any possibility whatever can happen that can 'take the edge' off us winning this 20th league title.' Again, a line of thinking that appears pretty flawed by the evidence of Sunday. As for the supporters, it's a shame that the divide over the reaction has caused friction at what should be a time of harmony. It is, though, quite strange to suggest that Liverpool supporters should be sending one of their best players off to Madrid, in his prime, with their best wishes. Quite what message does that send to others in the squad, such as Ibrahima Konate who has been linked with a move to Real and whose contract is up in a year? No Liverpool supporter or player should see Liverpool as a stepping stone or a feeder club for Real Madrid. Liverpool is the destination and Liverpool supporters regard their club alongside Real Madrid as the biggest in the world. If this was a Barcelona player opting to make the move to Madrid in their prime, the reaction would have been far worse, just ask Luis Figo. As Alexander-Arnold himself admitted, Real might not be a domestic rival but they are a European rival, challenging for the same trophy that Liverpool supporters have a strong affinity to win. Alexander-Arnold has chosen, rather than helping win European Cups for his boyhood club to actively work against that happening. No wonder some fans aren't happy clapping him off to Madrid.
BBC News
03-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
A 'ghost goal' and a 'mythical lady'
"We don't know whether it was a goal or not. I'm sure people will talk about it - but we're going to the final. We're going to Istanbul."Those were the words of captain Steven Gerrard 20 years ago today after Luis Garcia's 'ghost goal' carried Liverpool through the Champions League semi-final, beating Premier League winners Chelsea by a single goal over two was right, people did talk. In the weeks that followed, a myth swept the Merseyside city and it went something like this...A former Liverpool secretary - an elderly lady now retired - was said to have been sitting directly in line with the goalline. Asked about the moment that carried a generation of Liverpool fans to their first European Cup final, she is said to have answered with a resounding 'yes, it did cross the line'.Case closed, then. If anyone is going to end doubt, surely it is a gran-like figure, one you would trust with your savings, house keys and matchday ticket?Or maybe it is just a football myth, one swept from the dust of one of the greatest nights in Anfield is somehow romantic that a night so vivid in colour and packed with narrative contains such a plot twist. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho spoke pre-game about how his league winners would stand up to the swirl of an Anfield this semi-final was different.A generation of supporters who knew what European Cup finals looked like only through VHS video replays could sniff the chance to live one out in its true lunchtime, Liverpool city centre cut the look of a place where a day's work had been finished early, with bars filling and fans preparing for the night to 6pm rolled in, flags, banners, songs and expectation filled the streets around Anfield. By shortly before 8pm, Anfield was as alive as it has ever been. It was 8.04pm, the ferocity paid its first - and most telling - dividend, a 'ghost goal' to send Liverpool to an Istanbul final which they should have lost in every lifetime bar the one we live was not going to be was intimidation - each and every time a Chelsea player collected a ball for a throw-in, he did so faced with a cluster of charged home fans doing everything bar sitting on their was hope - why should the images of European Cup success live only in the heads of parents and grandparents when just one win sat between a modern-day re-run?And there was passion - song after song, roar after roar, every 50-50 duel on the pitch treated like a cup final of its own by those in the can be little wonder it was decided the ball had crossed the decades, players - in both red and opposing colours - have talked about the ball being 'sucked' towards goal at The Kop end. It was on this night in telling fashion, prompting an extraordinary outburst of celebration initially, which would then give way to over 90 minutes of nerves and were tears. Mourinho stood with his arms around his distraught players after the final whistle, while Anfield took on the look of a red-and-white hurricane. Those wearing blue had lost and were lost within it all. A tidal wave of home emotion and a ghost all in one night - it is indeed a lot to deal prod, a three-goal fightback in the final and a shootout win. It is like it was all meant to VAR existed, such history may never have been who needs VAR when a mythical lady could see what no-one else could anyway?
