The extremely anticipated new Premier League season kicked off at Anfield on Friday, with some supporters nonetheless wiping away tears from their eyes on a shiny, sunny day. Those identical supporters probably wiped very completely different tears away as soon as the ultimate whistle sounded following a six-goal affair that noticed the house membership stroll away with a 4-2 victory.
The feelings had been on full show forward of the opener between Liverpool and Bournemouth as followers paid tribute to late Reds star Diogo Jota, who tragically handed away alongside together with his brother André Silva in a automotive crash earlier this summer season.
Banners, indicators, balloons and scarves emblazoned with Jota’s title, face, and No. 20 package quantity had been raised above heads by these in attendance when the collective sang out Liverpool’s beloved anthem, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Broadcast of the match confirmed some followers teary-eyed whereas singing the standard music. The membership’s star participant, Mohamed Salah, seemed upward whereas the anthem rang out by way of the bottom.
The public deal with announcer referred to as for a interval of silence in reminiscence of “our forever 20” and his brother, who died on July 3. Liverpool gamers stood side-by-side with their arms draped over each other’s shoulders as followers displayed a collective mosaic signal within the stands that spelled out “DJ 20” and “AS 30,” proven in inexperienced, crimson and white colours – the colorway of the brothers’ native Portugal flag.
A black-and-white image of the brothers was proven on video boards as some gamers bowed their heads through the second.
The match received underway with the group stuffed with enthusiasm. In the twentieth minute, in reflection of Jota’s quantity, followers across the floor stood, clapped in unison and chanted in honor of their much-loved ahead.
Players and coaches on each golf equipment had been sporting black armbands.
Liverpool followers additionally honored Jota at the annual Community Shield match last weekend.
As for the match itself, the reigning Premier League champions seemed the half in an exhilarating win that includes their dramatically modified roster.
Liverpool are favored to repeat as title-winners after bolstering the squad with a number of high-profile signings, together with a trio from the Bundesliga: Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong from Bayern Leverkusen and Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt. New defender Milos Kerkez began as properly and confronted his former facet on Friday.
Ekitike will without end keep in mind at the present time after he scored on his Anfield debut. In the thirty seventh minute, the brand new striker powered by way of the Bournemouth backline to slot residence, giving the house facet a 1-0 lead. The Frenchman held his fingers to kind the No. 20 – Jota’s former quantity.
The match went to half with that rating – a foul signal for the opponents. According to the Premier League, going into Friday, Liverpool had but to lose any of the membership’s final 155 league matches at residence when the Reds have led at the break (W141 D14).
Ekitike was concerned in Liverpool’s second tally too. The Reds doubled the lead within the forty ninth minute when the ahead softly laid off the ball to Cody Gakpo, who dribbled throughout the world to set himself up for a shot that discovered the again of Djordje Petrovic’s objective.
Bournemouth struck again by way of star ahead Antoine Semenyo. In the sixty fourth minute, the Cherries caught the Reds on the break with David Brooks centering to Semenyo, who one-timed the ball previous Alisson Becker.
Semenyo struck once more simply over 10 minutes later with an exquisite particular person effort to stage the match at two.
In the 76th minute, Semenyo was performed by way of on one other quick break, rapidly driving at Liverpool’s objective with velocity. He struck his second tally of the match into the underside nook, sending the Liverpool devoted right into a quiet hush as the lead was now gone.
But Liverpool had a glance about them after the equalizer on a day they had been celebrating the lifetime of their former teammate.
As the clock approached the ninetieth minute, up stepped Reds substitute Federico Chiesa – for a second that he too will probably always remember.
Salah’s teasing cross into the world wasn’t adequately handled by Petrovic or the Cherries’ protection, with Chiesa stepping up to drive residence the go-ahead objective as Anfield erupted.
In the 94th minute, Salah put the proverbial cherry on prime with a objective of his personal, which capped the six-goal thriller. The Egyptian took on 4 Bournemouth defenders and niftily prevented a deal with to rating the ultimate objective of the night time. He seemed to have tears in his eyes as he acknowledged the group after the sport.
“It’s amazing to play here, as you can see when we won the crowd – was unbelievable. I enjoyed every minute playing on that pitch, so I just want to stay focused and do more for the team,” Ekitike mentioned after the match, in accordance to PremierLeague.com
“The tribute to Diogo Jota was amazing and it makes it hard to explain my feelings right now,” he’s quoted as saying.
The Arne Slot-led membership received the title in his first season in cost final yr and can be wanting to information the Reds to their first repeat crown in over forty years.
In the twenty sixth minute, broadcast video confirmed a fan partaking with Semenyo whereas the ahead went to retrieve a ball for an impending throw-in. The fan may be seen shouting and pointing at Semenyo simply earlier than the Ghanaian restarted play.
A short while later, play was briefly suspended as either side’ managers and a few gamers gathered with the match referee, Anthony Taylor, within the technical space to apparently focus on the second between the fan and the participant.
The Sky Sports broadcast, citing the Premier League Match Centre, mentioned Semenyo had been topic to a racist remark from the group.
The official X account for the Match Centre posted a press release that mentioned the league would examine the incident.
“We offer our full support to the player and both clubs. Racism has no place in our game, or anywhere in society,” the assertion learn partly.
The English FA additionally launched a press release following the incident, stating the group was “concerned” concerning the alleged “discrimination from an area of the crowd” and pledged to work with authorities, each golf equipment and match officers to “establish the facts and ensure the appropriate action is taken.”
A Liverpool assertion mentioned the membership was conscious of the alleged incident and can help the “ongoing police investigation.”