LIVERPOOL: An injury-ravaged Liverpool fought back from a goal down to beat Luton 4-1 and open up a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League on Wednesday.
Chiedozie Ogbene had given the Hatters a shock first-half lead against a Liverpool side missing Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota among others.
Dutch international duo Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo turned the game on its head in two minutes just before the hour mark before Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott secured the win.
Victory takes Jurgen Klopp’s men four points clear of Manchester City and five ahead of third-placed Arsenal, but having played a game more than both their title rivals.
Liverpool’s squad was already stretched by injuries prior to loss of Curtis Jones, Jota and Nunez in the first-half of Saturday’s 4-1 win at Brentford.
Salah scored on his return from a hamstring injury at the weekend, but was forced on as a substitute earlier than planned and suffered a setback that kept him out.
Klopp was already without Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara due to injury and the stretched Reds were forced to work harder for the three points than they would have wished just days before the League Cup final.
Without the first-choice front three of Salah, Jota and Nunez, there was extra responsibility on Diaz but the Colombian had a first 45 minutes to forget.
Twice he had big chances to open the scoring in the first five minutes, but took too long to get his shot away and then fired wide.
Luton held Liverpool 1-1 when the sides met at Kenilworth Road in November and have made a habit of ruffling the feathers of the Premier League’s elite on their return to the top flight.
However, the visitors had barely posed a threat before they went in front on 12 minutes.
Tahith Chong burst into the Liverpool box and when his powerful shot was parried by the legs of Caoimhin Kelleher, Ogbene headed in at the far post.
All of Liverpool’s chances before the break continued to fall to Diaz.
He just could not stretch to make a strong connection on Wataru Endo’s cross and then blazed high and wide when unmarked from the edge of the area.
Klopp was whipping up the Anfield crowd at every opportunity and his side finally opened the floodgates on 56 minutes.
Captain Van Dijk led by example as he shrugged off his marker to power in Alexis Mac Allister’s corner.
Mac Allister was the creator again seconds later as Luton again switched off from a dead ball.
Conor Bradley’s throw-in picked out the Argentine midfielder and his volleyed cross was headed in by Gakpo.
Only some heroics from Thomas Kaminski denied Gakpo and Van Dijk their second goals of the night as Liverpool continued to surge forward, even with the lead.
And an animated Klopp could finally relax 19 minutes from time when Diaz this time kept his composure to slot home his 10th goal of the season.
Elliott then rounded off the scoring on his 100th Liverpool appearance by blasting a loose ball into the top corner.
Liverpool’s attention now turns to securing the first of a potential quadruple of trophies to mark Klopp’s final season in charge when they face Chelsea in Sunday’s League Cup final at Wembley.
Injury-hit Liverpool roar back against Luton to surge four points clear
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Injury-hit Liverpool roar back against Luton to surge four points clear
- Victory takes Jurgen Klopp’s men four points clear of Manchester City and five ahead of third-placed Arsenal, but having played a game more than both their title rivals
Sevilla beat Al-Ittihad 1-0 to take Antonio Puerta Trophy
- La Liga club host annual match in honor of former player who died aged 22 in 2007
- Match is latest pre-season friendly for both clubs ahead of the start of their domestic leagues in August
DUBAI: La Liga club Sevilla FC defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad 1-0 to claim the Antonio Puerta Trophy at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville on Friday night.
Lucas Ocampos scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot after 42 minutes.
The annual friendly has been hosted by the Andalusian club since 2008 in honor of former player Antonio Puerta who died from heart disease in 2007 at the age of 22.
This was the 13th hosting of the match, which was not contested in 2015, 2018, 2020 or 2021. Sevilla now have won won the trophy 11 times.
The match was also the latest outing for both clubs ahead of start of their respective domestic campaigns.
Al-Ittihad will play two more friendlies against Real Betis (Aug. 3) and Inter Milan (Aug. 7) before kicking off their Saudi Pro League season with a match against Al-Kholood on Aug. 24.
Sevilla will launch their La Liga campaign on Aug. 16 at Las Palmas.
‘Sevilla FC is open to the world,’ says club president ahead of Al-Ittihad match
- Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco speaks to Arab News about the Antonio Puerta Trophy, his club’s links to Saudi Arabia and football’s development in the Kingdom
DUBAI: La Liga club Sevilla on Friday night take on Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad in the annual Antonio Puerta Trophy match, which is also part of the pre-season preparations for both teams.
Arab News spoke to Sevilla President Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco about the clash with Al-Ittihad and the state of Saudi Arabian football.
Here are some of his comments.
On the idea behind the Antonio Puerta Trophy …
Antonio Puerta is one of the biggest legends of our club. He was key in the first Europa League title we won in 2006 and in the ones that followed in the subsequent months. His passing was a hard blow for the club and the fans, which is why we honour him every year with this match. We always try to invite high-level teams to offer him the best possible tribute.
On playing Al-Ittihad in the 2024 edition …
We are in the middle of the preseason preparing the team. I believe that by that day, the 26th, we will have had 20 days of training since we started on July 6. We want to continue training, implementing the game model of our new coach. We expect Sevilla fans to enjoy a good match, ensure competitiveness, and let all of us who love football start to see what Sevilla will be like in the upcoming season.
On the Saudi Pro League project …
The growth of the Saudi Pro League is very interesting. For clubs like Sevilla FC, where part of our business model is based on selling players to generate profits that allow us to make new investments, it is important to have emerging markets willing to invest. The key now is for them to maintain that level of investment, build solid structures in the clubs, professionalize all areas, and invest in formation for youth teams to allow also a technical improvement in local players.
On Sevilla’s attendance at the World Football Summit in Jeddah last December …
Our experience at this summit was very positive. Different members of our club were able to see firsthand how football is developing in Saudi Arabia, and we can expand our network of contacts in the region to continue generating alliances and synergies.
On Sevilla’s ties with Saudi Arabia …
We have had different trips to Saudi Arabia. Our head of artificial intelligence, Elías Zamora, visited to showcase the tools we have and can offer to the general football market and specifically to Saudi Arabia. Additionally, through our sporting management, we can share our extensive knowledge, our transfer policy, and our scouting policy, which has been recognized in recent years and further improved with artificial intelligence. We aim to create bonds where we can learn from them, and they can learn from Sevilla Football Club.
On exporting Sevilla’s renowned scouting methodology …
At the beginning of the 21st century, we started a scouting policy that allowed us to find players unknown to the market. These players came to Sevilla Football Club, we maximized their performance, achieved sporting successes in the form of European qualifications and national and European titles, and then we sold them, generating significant profits that we reinvested in new signings. When this practice became more common in football, we introduced a new factor: artificial intelligence. This sporting know-how can be offered to the Arab market to give them the ability, through artificial intelligence and the scouting of each club, to have an effective player acquisition and sales policy.
On Sevilla’s global relationship-building …
Sevilla Football Club is a club open to the world. Our internationalization plan aims to grow our fan base worldwide, and to do that, it is important to continue building relationships with clubs from different regions. We are also open to play as visitors against other clubs if an attractive opportunity arrives.
Canada women’s football coach removed by Canadian Olympic Committee over drone controversy
- Canada’s camp was thrown into disarray this week after two team staffers were sent home for allegedly using a drone to spy on a New Zealand practice
- Priestman denied any involvement, but did not attend Thursday’s 2-1 victory over New Zealand as FIFA — football’s world governing body — and the International Olympic Committee investigate
PARIS: The Canadian Olympic Committee removed women’s national football head coach Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris Games following an alleged drone spying scandal.
The COC said in a statement released early Friday that assistant coach Andy Spence would lead the defending gold medalists for the remainder of the tournament.
Canada’s camp was thrown into disarray this week after two team staffers were sent home for allegedly using a drone to spy on a New Zealand practice.
Priestman denied any involvement, but did not attend Thursday’s 2-1 victory over New Zealand as FIFA — football’s world governing body — and the International Olympic Committee investigate.
Canada Football CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue said in the COC release “additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
He added Priestman was suspended from her duties until the end of the tournament and the completion of the organization’s independent external review.
The COC said Wednesday that assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi were “sent home immediately,” and that it had accepted Priestman’s decision to remove herself from coaching the opening match.
Priestman held a brief media availability Wednesday after guiding her team through a one-hour practice.
“My reaction was you feel like this program has let the country down,” the 38-year-old Priestman said. “That’s why I took the proactive step to do what I felt was the right thing. Irrespective of the details, I’m ultimately accountable.”
Priestman had agreed to a contract in late January to coach Canada through the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Priestman was hired in November 2020 to succeed Kenneth Heiner-Moller and had been working on a rolling contract. She led Canada to a gold medal at the 2021 Olympics, but was eliminated in the group stage of last year’s World Cup. She has coached the team to 28 wins, nine losses and 10 draws.
Priestman spent five years with the Canadian Football Association in a variety of coaching roles before returning in June 2018 to her native England, where she served as coach of the women’s under-18 team and assistant coach with the senior women’s team. Before that she spent 4 1/2 years as head of football development in New Zealand before leaving in June 2013.
Historic French club Bordeaux to become amateur after bankruptcy
BORDEAUX: Former French Ligue 1 champions Bordeaux on Thursday said they will become an amateur club for the first time in almost 90 years after filing for bankruptcy.
They had announced earlier in the week that they would accept their relegation to the third-tier Championnat National by French football’s financial watchdog, the DNCG.
Bordeaux, based in France’s south-west, won the last of their six top flight titles in 2009.
They first turned professional in 1937.
The club needs to find 40 million euros ($43.6 million) to balance their books and had been in talks with the owners of Liverpool, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), before the American investors pulled out of negotiations earlier this month.
“On Tuesday, the club filed for bankruptcy with Bordeaux’s commercial court, to be able to begin necessary restructuring,” they said in a statement.
“The club had to give up asking to maintain its professional status” as it risked “heavy sanctions” if it presented a recovery plan to the DNCG that did not reflect its future financial reality.
Bordeaux were relegated to Ligue 2 in 2022, just 12 years after reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
The town’s mayor slammed the decision by Bordeaux’s controversial owner Gerard Lopez, who has invested 60 million euros into the club since 2021.
“I’ve learnt with consternation the sudden and personal decision made by Gerard Lopez,” Pierre Hurmic told AFP.
“It confirms the risky management that has led our club in the space of three years from the elite Ligue 1 to the amateur level,” he added.
A host of well know players — past and present — have played for Bordeaux including World Cup winners Zinedine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, as well as Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.
“I feel extremely sick like everyone who loves the club,” 1998 World Cup winner Lizarazu said on Instagram.
“What’s happing is unfortunately the result of disastrous football and financial management for many years,” he added.
One consequence to the move is that the club’s academy will close and a host of professional players will leave the outfit.
The new Championnat National season begins on August 16 with Bordeaux expected to play at their 42,000-capacity Matmut Atlantique home, France’s sixth biggest stadium, for the campaign.
USA, World Cup holders Spain win women’s Olympic football openers
- Spain are making their Olympic women’s football debut at the Paris Games but are leading contenders to win the gold medal
- It is the perfect start for Spain in Group C, in which rivals Nigeria and Brazil meet later
PARIS: Reigning Ballon d’Or Aitana Bonmati scored one goal and helped create another as World Cup holders Spain beat Japan 2-1 in their first game of the women’s Olympic football tournament on Thursday, while record four-time gold medallists the United States beat Zambia 3-0.
Spain are making their Olympic women’s football debut at the Paris Games but are leading contenders to win gold after their World Cup triumph in Australia and New Zealand last year.
They fell behind against Japan in Group C in the western French city of Nantes to Aoba Fujino’s superb early free-kick, but Bonmati soon equalized as she rounded the goalkeeper to score midway through the first half.
Spain then grabbed the winner in the 74th minute when Mariona Caldentey exchanged passes with Bonmati before firing in.
With 12 teams split into three groups of four, there is margin for error as the two best third-placed sides will advance to the quarter-finals.
That will provide some comfort for Japan, silver medallists at London 2012.
A strong Spain starting XI featured seven players who were in the line-up for last year’s World Cup final win over England in Sydney, plus Alexia Putellas, the two-time former Ballon d’Or winner.
In the same section, two-time silver medallists Brazil beat Nigeria 1-0 in Bordeaux.
Former world player of the year Marta, in her sixth Olympics at the age of 38, had an effort disallowed for offside before setting up Gabi Nunes for the only goal late in the first half.
The USA have come to the Games with a young squad but with high hopes of success under new coach Emma Hayes.
They were comfortable winners against Zambia in Nice but should have triumphed by a greater margin after netting three times in the first half against opponents who had a player sent off before the break.
Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson both hit the woodwork before Rodman — daughter of former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman — scored on 17 minutes with a lovely turn and finish in the box.
Swanson made it 2-0 on 24 minutes when she controlled Lindsey Horan’s pass and finished, and she netted again just a minute later, this time rounding the goalkeeper to slot in.
Zambia’s Pauline Zulu was left in tears as she was sent off following a VAR review shortly before the break for a foul on Sophia Smith. However, the USA could not add any more goals with the extra player.
Also in Group B, 2016 gold medallists Germany outclassed Australia, winning 3-0 in Marseille with Marina Hegering and Lea Schueller both scoring headers before Jule Brand wrapped up the victory.
The USA and Germany meet each other in Marseille on Sunday.
France survived a wobble to beat Colombia 3-2 in Lyon, where there were plenty of empty seats to greet the host nation.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto scored twice in the first half either side of a Kenza Dali strike as France appeared to be cruising.
However, Catalina Usme pulled one back from a penalty early in the second half and substitute Manuela Pavi further reduced the deficit before a red card for Mayra Ramirez ended Colombian hopes of snatching a point.
In the same Group A, reigning Olympic champions Canada shrugged off a spying scandal to claim a 2-1 win over New Zealand in Saint-Etienne.
Mackenzie Barry gave New Zealand the lead before a sparse crowd at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Arsenal’s Cloe Lacasse levelled in first-half stoppage time for Canada, who beat Sweden on penalties in the final in Tokyo three years ago. Evelyne Viens then fired in the winner 11 minutes from time.
Canada’s build-up had been overshadowed after an assistant coach and an analyst were sent home from the Olympics on the eve of the game.
The analyst, 43-year-old Joey Lombardi, was also given a suspended eight-month prison sentence for flying a drone over a New Zealand training session this week in Saint-Etienne.
Head coach Bev Priestman apologized and took no part in the game against New Zealand, feeling it would not be appropriate.
“As a Canadian, these are not our values. We are not cheats,” said defender Vanessa Gilles, who described the episode as a “humiliation.”
