Premier League
KLOPP PRAISES ‘SPECTACLE’ AS SALAH HAT-TRICK SEES LIVERPOOL EDGE LEEDS 4-3
Jurgen Klopp praised both teams for a “proper spectacle” to launch the new Premier League season after Mohamed Salah’s hat-trick helped Liverpool outgun Leeds 4-3 at an empty Anfield on Saturday (Sept 12).
Leeds’ return to the English top-flight under Marcelo Bielsa after a 16-year absence was highly anticipated and a clash against the reigning champions lived up to expectations with five goals in the opening 33 minutes.
Salah’s early penalty was cancelled out by Jack Harrison before Virgil van Dijk played both hero and villain for Klopp’s men by heading home and then laying a second equaliser on a plate for Patrick Bamford.
A superb Salah strike again restored Liverpool’s lead before half-time and even after Mateusz Klich levelled for a third time, the Egyptian had the final say with a penalty two minutes from time to complete his hat-trick.
“What a game, what an opponent, what a performance from both teams. A proper spectacle, I loved that,” said Klopp.
“It is pretty rare you see that many goals in a game, we have left space for improvement in our defending but that is not unusual for a first game.”
Liverpool dropped points at Anfield just once on their romp to a first league title in 30 years last season but were nearly undone on the opening day of their title defence by Leeds’ daring attacking endeavour and a host of defensive errors.
The hosts made the perfect start when Salah’s shot was handled inside the box by Robin Koch and Salah rifled home the resulting penalty.
True to Bielsa’s philosophy, though, Leeds were not intimidated by the blow of conceding early and came out to go toe-to-toe with the champions.
Harrison equalised in style as the on-loan Manchester City winger cut inside Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez before firing low and hard past Alisson Becker.
But it was at the back Leeds looked like a newly-promoted side as slack marking allowed Van Dijk a free header which Illan Meslier should have saved rather than letting the ball trickle over the line.
“To be able to score three goals is a positive, but we should have created more danger when we attacked,” said a despondent Bielsa.
“We were very efficient but we didn’t create enough goalscoring opportunities. We also can’t ignore we conceded four goals, and a lot of those goals were from avoidable situations.”
Van Dijk has been near-faultless in two-and-a-half seasons since his signing transformed Liverpool’s fortunes under Klopp.
However, a shootout was reminiscent of the German’s early days in charge at Anfield as Van Dijk was badly at fault for Leeds’ second as his attempted clearance teed up Bamford perfectly to side-foot beyond Alisson.
“We struggled in some defensive situations, that’s why they scored, but I’m really happy with the things we did with the ball,” added Klopp.
“We scored four goals and we could have scored more. I am completely fine with the game. Offensively it was good and defensively we can improve.”
SALAH KEEPS HIS COOL
More poor defending from a set-piece meant the visitors again did not hang onto parity for long as Pascal Struijk’s header from Andy Robertson’s free-kick dropped to Salah at the edge of the box and he controlled before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Chances continued to come for both sides after the break as Alexander-Arnold was spared an embarrassing own goal by an offside flag against Harrison.
Leeds did level for a third time when the Liverpool defence was cut open again by Helder Costa’s pass and Klich controlled before volleying beyond Alisson.
But Liverpool made a habit of scoring late winners on their way to the title last season and the Reds responded like champions for a fourth time late on.
Leeds’ record signing Rodrigo ensured he had a debut to forget with a rash lunge on Fabinho to hand Liverpool a second penalty of the game.
Salah completed his hat-trick by keeping his cool again to send Meslier the wrong way and make sure Liverpool did not stumble out of the gate in the title race.
-AFP
Manchester United’s Harry Maguire struck a late header to seal a thrilling 2–1 Premier League victory over Liverpool on Sunday, ending their nine-year drought without a win at Anfield and dealing a blow to the reigning champions’ title chase.
Liverpool, who have lost four consecutive games across all competitions for the first time since November 2014, dropped to fourth in the table on 15 points, four behind leaders Arsenal.
United, who won back-to-back league games for the first time since manager Ruben Amorim was appointed last November, climbed to ninth with 13 points.
United’s Bryan Mbeumo stunned the home crowd with a goal a minute after kickoff when Amad Diallo pushed forward before flicking a ball for the forward to run onto and fire home from inside the box.
Irate Liverpool fans thought play should have been stopped before the goal with Alexis Mac Allister down clutching his head after a collision with teammate Virgil Van Dijk.
SQUANDERED CHANCES
Cody Gakpo hit the post three times before finally scoring the equaliser in the 78th minute, when he tapped in Federico Chiesa’s cross.
But Maguire sent United fans into a frenzy with the winner in the 84th when Bruno Fernandes floated the ball in for the big defender to outjump Ibrahima Konate and power home a header.
“It means everything,” Maguire told Sky Sports.
“They’ve had the better of us over the last few years and it’s not been good for our club and we’ve have not given our fans enough days like today. It’s been a long time coming, coming to this ground and picking up three points.
“I’ve been here seven years now and to come to this ground every time and not get three points has been tough. So it’s for the fans, I hope they have a great night tonight.
There were shouts for a Liverpool penalty early on when Casemiro’s cross struck Diallo’s arm. But the VAR video referee determined Diallo’s arm was in a natural and justifiable position.
Liverpool had 19 shots to United’s 12 including several jaw-dropping near misses.
‘SLOPPY’ LIVERPOOL
Gakpo was lively all game, hitting the post twice in the first half, and then nearly making it third time lucky when he smashed another shot off the post shortly after the break.
He missed a sitter in the dying minutes, however, when he headed the ball well wide of the net.
An off-form Mohamed Salah squandered a brilliant chance in the second half when the ball fell to him unmarked at the far post, but he launched it wide, his face etched with frustration.
“I think we conceded a very sloppy second goal,” said Reds captain Virgil van Dijk. “We worked so hard to get back into the game and we created great opportunities to score the winner but if you concede a second goal like that, that is the disappointing part.
“We need to stay humble and stay working and keep our confidence as high as possible,” he added. “When things get tough, it is important we keep the mentality of being there for each other. It is a long season.”
-Reuters
Manchester United’s under-pressure coach Ruben Amorim will be given the full three years of his contract to prove himself and the club will become the most profitable in the world, co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said on Wednesday.
Amorim was Ratcliffe’s choice to replace Erik ten Hag last November but the Portuguese coach has struggled to turn around the club’s flagging fortunes, winning only 10 of his 34 Premier League matches in charge.
United endured their worst top-flight finish last season since they were relegated in 1973–74, coming 15th, and they missed out on Europe after being beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.
But Ratcliffe has issued his strongest statement of support for Amorim yet, comparing the situation to when Alex Ferguson struggled in the early years of his reign before becoming the greatest manager in the club’s history.
“I remember the clamouring for Alex Ferguson to be fired in his first two years,” Ratcliffe, who owns 30% of the club and controls the football side of the business, told The Times’ podcast The Business. “You look at (Mikel) Arteta at Arsenal. He had a miserable time for the first couple of years.
“We’re results-driven at the end of the day, but we have to be patient and we have to see through the results. I think there’s lots of good things at Manchester United. We have to be patient and we have a long-term plan. It isn’t a light switch.
“Ruben needs to demonstrate that he’s a great coach over three years.”
‘WE’VE MADE ERRORS’
While the American Glazer family retain majority control of the 20-time champions of England, Ratcliffe rejected suggestions they could instruct him to sack Amorim.
“It absolutely wouldn’t happen because it’s just a good working relationship. They come to the board meetings. We sit down and we talk about things,” Ratcliffe said.
“We’ve made errors. There’s absolutely no question that we’ve made errors as we’ve gone along and we’ve talked about it. But no one’s perfect.”
Asked to confirm whether Amorim would see out his contract, Ratcliffe said: “Yes. That’s where I would be. Three years, because football’s not overnight.”
Despite United’s stock falling on the pitch, off it they recently posted record revenues of 666.5 million pounds ($892.1 million) in the year to June 2025, albeit with a 33 million pounds loss.
Amorim’s squad was boosted by more than 200 million pounds worth of new signings in the summer.
“The better your squad, the better your football should be. So a lot of what we have done in the first year is spend an awful lot of time putting the club on a sustainable, healthy footing,” Ratcliffe, who completed his acquisition of a minority stake in the club in 2024, said.
“If you look at our results for last year we have the highest revenues ever. Profitability, the second highest. We’re not seeing all the benefits of the restructuring that we’ve done in this set of results, and we were not in the Champions League.
“Those numbers will get better. Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my view, and from that will stem, I hope, a long-term, sustainable, high-level of football.”
Ratcliffe also said he wants to revive the club’s Academy that once churned out the likes of multiple title winners David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville.
“The academy has really slipped at Manchester United,” Ratcliffe said. “You don’t solve the academy problem overnight. It takes time. We just recruited a new academy director.”
-Reuters
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Manchester United cruised to a rare comfortable home Premier League victory as goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko secured a 2-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday.
With the pressure growing on manager Ruben Amorim after a disappointing start to the season, Mount calmed the nerves around the ground with a fine early finish to break the deadlock.
United continued to dominate, with a spectacular save from Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs preventing Bruno Fernandes from adding a sumptuous second before Sesko netted his first Old Trafford goal after 31 minutes.
Sunderland were awarded a penalty late in the first half, a decision that was overturned following a VAR intervention, but they never really threatened after the break as United eased to a third home league victory of the season.
The result put United in provisional eighth place with 10 points from seven games, two places below Sunderland on 11.
Wins, especially comfortable ones, have been in short supply for Portuguese Amorim since he took charge in November.
United supporters have slowly started to turn on the new manager as a result, with nothing short of victory over promoted Sunderland, despite the visitors’ impressive start to the season, enough to appease the disgruntled masses.
Mount’s superb control and finish was just what the beleaguered boss needed. The fine strike was the earliest United have scored in the Premier League since Marcus Rashford’s goal at Ipswich Town in Amorim’s first game in charge.
It was only a matter of time until the hosts scored again, such was their dominance. From a long throw, Sesko was alert to the flick-on before steering home his second in as many games.
United thought they had shot themselves in the foot as Sesko was penalised for a high boot in his own penalty area, only for VAR to deem it not to be a foul.
The hosts took their foot off the gas in the second half, but still should have added to their tally, with veteran Brazilian Casemiro blazing their best chance over the bar.
Sunderland did manufacture a late gilt-edged chance but Senne Lammens, making his debut in the United goal, stood tall to block, completing an assured performance from the keeper and his new teammates.
-Reuters
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