Premier League
Slot wowed by Liverpool late show in opening win over Bournemouth
Liverpool kicked off the defence of their Premier League title in an entertaining 4-2 victory over Bournemouth on Friday, with manager Arne Slot bowled over by the atmosphere on an emotional Anfield evening as two late goals stole the show.
“Do you have half an hour?” the Dutchman said laughing when asked to sum up a night that started with a tribute to their Portugal forward Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash last month.
Liverpool talisman Mo Salah and substitute Federico Chiesa struck after Antoine Semenyo’s double drew Bournemouth level.
“Unbelievable atmosphere in the final minutes,” Slot said.
“I thought that winning the league here (last season) will always be more special than winning a home game against Bournemouth, but the last six or seven minutes – wow, wow, wow, wow. How impressive that was.
“Three teams involved in a great game. Why three teams? Bournemouth and us playing full gas for 96 minutes, or even longer, 99 I think, and the referee (Anthony Taylor) who just kept the game going, didn’t blow his whistle every single time for every small thing.
“It was a great game to watch. In the end, we won it. So that helps for my emotions.”
However, the overriding emotion on the night, Slot said, was how “impressive and powerful the tribute for Jota was.”
TOUCHING MOMENTS
There were numerous touching moments at Anfield in honour of the Liverpool forward and his brother Andre Silva, who also died in the incident in northern Spain in July.
“They sang for him (Jota) before the game, in the first minute, after 20 minutes, and again at the end. It was so impressive, so powerful,” Slot said.
“His wife is here, his children are here, and for them it might be special to hear how much he’s loved over here.”
Scoring hero Chiesa, whose future at the club has been the subject of speculation, delivered a performance that felt like a gift to the fans who have sung his name since last season.
“He gave them something in return,” Slot said.
The one negative for Liverpool was their defensive frailty, with Semenyo twice capitalising on the Reds’ loose back line.
“Normally, you can complain about our players not sprinting back hard enough, but they did,” Slot said.
“The only thing we need to do better, but that’s in an ideal world, is where do you lose a ball? The best way is not to lose a ball. And if you do … lose it with a shot, or it ends up in a corner kick or a goal kick, but don’t lose it at your own 18-yard line.
“But I always judge, how hard do they sprint back? And in both situations, they sprinted back really hard.”
-Reuters
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Arsenal’s new Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres is primed to make his Premier League debut against Manchester United, with manager Mikel Arteta predicting on Friday that the striker will have a “tremendous impact” this season as the club chases silverware.
Arsenal splashed nearly 200 million pounds ($271.12 million) in a summer spending spree to land six new players including Gyokeres, who was hot property on the transfer market after netting 54 times in all competitions for Sporting last term.
Benjamin Sesko had been on Arsenal’s radar before moving to United and in a twist of transfer fate, the two clubs’ new strikers are set to face off at Old Trafford when the age-old Premier League rivals play each other in a rare season opener.
“I can just talk about Viktor and how happy we are to have him. He is going to have a tremendous impact in the team and his adaptation has been really, really good and we are happy to have him,” Arteta told reporters.
“Many strikers have come from different leagues and been successful. It’s on us, creating the right context for Viktor to do what he does best, which is to score goals.
“He is getting better and better every day. He is normally a really fit player and he has had the small moments in two (pre-season) games with us, so let’s see what he brings on Sunday.”
Arteta said new midfield recruit Martin Zubimendi has also integrated into the team well and is fit for Sunday’s game.
Arsenal have finished the last three seasons as runners-up in the Premier League and the pressure is on Arteta to deliver a league title after reinforcing the squad in key positions.
“If you keep digging, digging and digging, then one day the gold is going to be there. All the time, it is what I have been taught my whole life,” Arteta said.
“For the last three seasons we have more points (combined) than anybody else in the league and that says a lot about our consistency. Now we just have to do it in a season.”
Arsenal great and former skipper Tony Adams suggested Arteta should take the captain’s armband from Martin Odegaard, who had a relatively poor season due to injuries last term, and hand it to Declan Rice.
However, Arteta said the decision to stick with Odegaard as the captain was unanimous.
“My opinion is clear and it’s not just my opinion, it’s all the staff and especially the players. I asked them to vote the captain and I got the result yesterday,” Arteta said.
“By a mile, by a big, big 100 miles, everybody chose the same person – Martin Odegaard – which is the clearest sign that you can have.
“It’s how they feel about who has to be their captain to defend, improve and win the matches that we want to win.”
-Reuters
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Liverpool’s Premier League season-opening match against Bournemouth was briefly halted on Friday after visiting forward Antoine Semenyo reported getting racist abuse from the crowd.
Referee Anthony Taylor stopped play at a Liverpool corner in the 29th minute to address the incident, summoning both managers to the touchline for a briefing.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Bournemouth counterpart Adam Smith were then called over to the benches for further instructions before play resumed four minutes later.
Following halftime, an anti-discrimination message was read out to the crowd at Anfield.
Ghana international Semenyo, 25, went on to score twice after play resumed, helping his side to briefly level the score before reigning Premier League champions Liverpool secured a 4-2 victory with a late surge.
“We’re very concerned about the allegation of discrimination from an area of the crowd,” England’s Football Association said in a statement.
“Incidents of this nature have no place in our game, and we will work closely with the match officials, the clubs, and the relevant authorities to establish the facts and ensure that the appropriate action is taken.”
Merseyside Police said a 47-year-old man had been ejected from Anfield after reports of the racist abuse, adding that an investigation was under way. Liverpool said they would fully support the police investigation.
“Merseyside Police will not tolerate hate crime of any form,” Chief Inspector Kev Chatterton, the match commander for the game, said in a statement.
“We take incidents like this very seriously, and in cases like this we will be proactively seeking football banning orders, with the club, against those responsible.
“There is no place for racism and it is vital that anyone who witnesses such an offence reports it to stewards, or the police immediately, so we can take the necessary action like we did this evening”
Liverpool coach Arne Slot was upset about the incident.
“It is clear that we do not want this in football,” the Dutchman said. “We definitely don’t want this at Anfield … This should never happen in football, let alone at Anfield.”
Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola said: “Straight away, Antoine and the referee told us. The person has been identified.
“It’s a big shame that these things keep happening. It’s the first game of the season, a lovely game of football, and I have to speak about these things happening.”
The incident at Anfield follows reports of Tottenham Hotspur’s French forward Mathys Tel being subjected to racist abuse on social media after missing a penalty in his side’s UEFA Super Cup defeat by Paris St Germain on Wednesday.
-Reuters
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Premier League referees are likely to award more penalties this season in a tougher response to players who grapple and hold opponents in the penalty area.
Howard Webb, chief operating officer of referees’ body the PGMOL, told reporters on Thursday that feedback from a recent Premier League survey had highlighted “a few too many” clear holding offences going unpunished.
He said VAR could intervene in situations of “extreme non-footballing action” where a player was clearly dragging another to the ground, even off the ball.
“I would expect, if we’re sitting around this table this time next year, there to have been a few more penalties given for holding offences than what we’ve seen (last season),” he said.
“But not a huge swing of the pendulum, because that’s really difficult to sustain over a period of time.”
Webb said there would still be “some grey zone situations where the referee’s call stands, where the referee says ‘No, it’s a small touch, it’s not impacting his ability to move the ball, it’s mutual holding.
“That will stay the referee’s call.
“When there’s no considerations to support the referee’s call, then we’ll expect VAR to get involved as well,” added Webb.
Nottingham Forest were awarded a penalty, confirmed after a VAR check, last season in a 7-0 thrashing of Brighton & Hove Albion when Tariq Lamptey bundled Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White to the ground.
A subsequent Premier League statement referred to “sustained holding with no attempt to play the ball”.
The PGMOL has tried before to reduce holding but Webb said this time the approach would be more lasting.
“This is not meant to be a two-week campaign, a six-week campaign, August and September and then forget all about it,” he explained.
“If we went in like a steam train and gave every little bit of contact, then it would be a six week campaign because we get told very quickly to ease off on what we’re doing.
“We have to take the game with us, we have to be credible.”
The new season kicks off on Friday when champions Liverpool host Bournemouth.
-Reuters
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