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Two penalties by Mohamed Salah reserved Liverpool’s heart-pounding 4-3 win against Leeds United on the opening day of the new Premier League season.
Salah put his team ahead from the penalty spot in the fourth minute after it was harshly judged that Robin Koch had deliberately handled, but that hit sparked a flurry of goals that saw the sides share four of them over the next 20 minutes of the first half.
Mateusz Klich’s volley midway through the second half seemed to have sealed a point for the newly promoted visitors, but after substitute Rodrigo knocked down Fabinho in the box, Salah again came in to score from 12 yards to seal three points and complete your hat trick. .
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Positive
If anything can be taken away from a crazy game like this, it’s that Liverpool’s attacking engine doesn’t need a boost after the short off-season hiatus. Salah, in particular, seemed to have never been absent.
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Negative
Defensively, the champions were all over the place at times, with Leeds advancing as they grew in the belief that they could forge opportunities. Against better teams, Liverpool could have easily lost today.
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Manager rating out of 10
6 – They did the job, but Jurgen Klopp will drag his defense into training camp Monday to address a number of fundamental mistakes.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players submitted after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Alisson, 6 – He was unable to do anything against any of Leeds’ goals, but Liverpool’s stopper had to be vigilant on more than one occasion to put out some promising starts for the visitors.
DF Trent Alexander-Arnold, 5 years He left a lot of space behind as he ventured forward, and the England full-back should have done a lot better trying to deal with Jack Harrison en route to Leeds’ first draw. He left in the last stages and was replaced by Joel Matip.
DF Joe Gomez, 5 – He tried to help Alexander-Arnold deal with Harrison, but couldn’t get the ball away from the Leeds man as he walked away to score. Later, he was sucked into the ball when Leeds played a loop pass from behind on the way to his second.
DF Virgil Van Dijk, 6 – TThe Dutchman rose higher to head a corner kick to put his team 2-1 ahead, but the center-back had a surprise in the half hour when he deflected a direct casual punt to Patrick Bamford for the forward to make it 2-2. . .
DF Andy Robertson, 6 years An absolutely perfect corner kick put the ball on a plate for Van Dijk to head home, and the Scotsman almost saw one of his centers deflected for a rare own goal shortly after, Illan Meslier in hand to make a great stop.
MF Jordan Henderson, 6 years He landed a sweetly hit volley squarely at Meslier’s throat in Leeds goal, in what was a low-key performance in a high-octane game. He left for Curtis Jones after 65 minutes.
MF Giorginio Wijnaldum, 5 – He got away but didn’t really offer much to Liverpool’s midfield, losing track of Klich as the Pole scooted into the penalty area to shoot home for 3-3.
MF Naby Keita, 6 years old – He tried to propel the team forward with some penetrating runs through the lines, but his influence faded after a brilliant opening few minutes. Replaced by Fabinho shortly before the hour mark.
Mohamed Salah showed no rust, scoring a hat trick in Liverpool’s wild 4-3 win over Leeds. Shaun Botterill / Getty Images
DEL Mohamed Salah, 9 – He emphatically slammed a penalty in the fourth minute straight through the middle of the goal to put the Reds on their way, and then shot home brilliantly on the half volley after 32 minutes to make the score 3-2. A cool, calm and collected kick at the end sealed all three points for the Reds.
FROM Roberto Firmino, 5 – He refused to pull the trigger when in oceans of space in the penalty area early on, and the Brazilian looked particularly rusty in his first outing of the season. He received a yellow card in the 75th minute for throwing Jack Harrison back after losing possession in midfield.
FW Sadio Mane, 7 – He did not make it to the roster, but Liverpool’s number 10 was still a threat in the final third and caused all kinds of problems for Leeds’ defense.
Substitutes
MF Fabinho, 6 – He won his team a penalty in the 87th minute to win it to the death.
MF Curtis Jones, 6 years old – He should have done more to deny Klich an easy run into the box for Leeds’ third goal.
DF Joel Matip, N / A – He brought to watch the game and did it.
Source: espn.co.uk
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