نجح فريق الكرة الأول بنادي الهلال السعودي في تحقيق الفوز على نظيره الريان القطري بثلاثية مقابل هدف، ضمن منافسات دوري أبطال آسيا.
واحتضن ملعب استاد أحمد بن علي معقل نادي الريان، مباراة الفريقين ضمن منافسات الجولة الأولى من مرحلة الدوري (دور المجموعات)، ببطولة دوري أبطال آسيا في شكلها الجديد.
تقدم الهلال بثلاثية في الشوط الأول سجلها ميلينكوفيتش سافيتش وجواو كانسيلو وماركوس لوناردو في الدقائق 15 و42 و44.
ثم قلص فريق الريان النتيجة بهدف عن طريق روجر جيديس في الدقيقة الثانية من عمر الشوط الثاني.
تشكيل الهلال أمام الريان القطري في دوري أبطال آسيا.. ميتروفيتش والدوسري يقودان الفريق
وأهدر ألكسندر ميتروفيتش فرصة زيادة غلة أهداف فريق الهلال بإضاعة ركلة جزاء في الدقيقة 71 من عمر اللقاء.
ويتواجد المحترف المصري محمود حسن تريزيجيه ضمن صفوف فريق الريان القطري منذ بداية الموسم الجاري، كما شارك أساسيًا في اللقاء حتى استبداله في الدقيقة 95، بجوار المغربي أشرف بن شرقي لاعب الزمالك الأسبق، الذي غادر في الدقيقة 90 أيضًا.
بتلك النتيجة يحصد فريق الهلال أول ثلاث نقاط في مشواره محتلًا وصافة المجموعة بفارق الأهداف عن استقلال طهران، فيما يظل الريان بلا نقاط في المركز الـ11 وقبل الأخير.
وتقام مباريات مرحلة الدوري بمشاركة 24 ناديًا موزعين على منطقتي الغرب والشرق، في الفترة من 16 سبتمبر 2024 وحتى 19 فبراير 2025، بحيث يتقابل كل فريق مع ثمانية أندية مختلفة، عبر 4 مباريات على أرضه، و4 مباريات خارج ملعبه.
وتتأهل أفضل ثمانية فرق في كل دوري إلى دور الـ16، المقرر إقامة مبارياته في شهر مارس 2025.
وبداية من دور ربع النهائي وحتى المباراة النهائية ستقام البطولة بنظام البطولة المجمعة (التأهل من مباراة واحدة)، تقام في المملكة العربية السعودية، ذلك خلال الفترة من 25 أبريل وحتى 4 مايو 2025.
وكانت قرع قرعة دوري أبطال آسيا، قد أسفرت عن مواجهة الهلال، لكل من بيرسبوليس الإيراني والشرطة العراقي والاستقلال الإيراني والغرافة القطري والسد القطري والعين الإماراتي والريان القطري والوصل الإماراتي.
كما أوقعت فريق الريان، في مواجهة بيرسبوليس – الهلال – الاستقلال – الأهلي (على أرضه في قطر) وباختاكور – العين – النصر – الوصل (خارج قطر). أهداف مباراة الهلال والريان في دوري أبطال آسيا
da casino： As the rain hammered down upon the Emirates Stadium turf on Tuesday night and Arsenal fans grew restless over their Champions League hopes, there was one man calmer than anyone else during the shoot-out.
da dobrowin： So he should have been after being signed for a £105m transfer fee last summer. Up stepped Declan Rice. This was his first penalty for the club by the way, but the midfielder stroked it home like, dare we say, James Ward-Prowse.
The latter has been known as a set piece specialist throughout his career and incidentally was tasked with replacing Rice at West Ham, but it is the Arsenal star who is beginning to show his colours in that aspect of the game too.
The Gunners didn't just have their record buy to thank against Porto a few days ago, despite his cool and composed penalty but it was another radiant display from a player who just seems to be getting better and better.
Has £105m ever looked like a bargain? In the case of Rice, it certainly seems that way.
Declan Rice's season in numbers
What can you say about the England international that hasn't already been said? Very little. He is one of the most elite midfielders in the game and has taken Arsenal to a brand new level this term.
Arsenal players Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice
With Thomas Partey injured and Jorginho not in the frame regularly at the beginning of the season he was tasked with playing as a lone holding midfielder. This didn't faze the 25-year-old who was just been magnificent in such a role.
Among positionally similar players in the division, Rice ranks among the best 6% for progressive passes per 90 minutes, the top 4% for total carrying distance and the best 13% for percentage of dribblers tackled.
For want of a better word, the former West Ham man is a machine. He strides forward with immense purpose, can pick out a pass and pivotally for a player in his position, breaks up the play.
However, in 2024 Rice has stepped up in other ways. He's become one of Arsenal's main set-piece takers, delivering corners from the left-hand side and free-kicks from either side. As such, he now has seven assists for the club, five of which have come this calendar year.
With Jorginho alongside him, he's been granted the license to play further forward and as a result, has now scored three goals in his last five matches. Such form is the most prolific of Rice's career and it only goes to show the immense qualities at his disposal. On the evidence of the above, the summer signing has it all.
Rice could well go on to become a legend in north London and won't be dislodged anytime soon, but the Gunners do have a similar sort of player lingering in the Hale End setup.
Arsenal's next Declan Rice
The name we should be focusing our attention on is 20-year-old midfielder Jack Henry-Francis.
The youngster isn't a player who's getting the same attention as a certain Ethan Nwaneri, or Charlie Patino for that matter but he is clearly a player that Arsenal rates highly.
Saliba 2.0 & £80m striker: Arsenal's dazzling XI once Nwaneri becomes a regular
The future looks bright at the Emirates.
ByJack Salveson Holmes Feb 18, 2024
Called up to train with the first team as early as 17-years-old, the London-born Irish youth international has qualities that make him an enticing project for the coaching staff at London Colney. Interesting to note is that one appearance alongside the senior team sparked a fight caught on camera by the All or Nothing team filming the club's Amazon Prime documentary.
Alexandre Lacazette launched a tackle on the then-teenager which right-back Cedric didn't take much of a liking to, sparking quite the scuffle.
More importantly, though, is what makes him like Rice. Well, the club's official website describes him as not only an "aggressive and tenacious tackler" but a "box-to-box energetic midfielder". That could quite aptly describe Arsenal's record signing too.
The trouble is that there has been a stark lack of opportunities to gain senior minutes. Henry-Francis made his first-team bow, although not in a competitive sense, against Hibernian in pre-season ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.
Since then, he has not been included in a first-team squad, not even for a cup game. That perhaps doesn't bode quite well for making a breakthrough but he has been notably impressive in 2023/24 for the U23s.
The young midfielder has shown he can pop up with attacking contributions, like Rice, scoring three goals and supplying two assists. Two of those involvements came against Exeter City in the EFL Trophy.
During that game, Henry-Francis supplied three key passes as a marker of his creativity while making four tackles and winning seven duels to outline his physicality and defensive confidence.
A loan spell would be of great benefit next season if he's to take his game to the next level. As seen against Exeter, he can clearly do it against Football League opposition.
Tottenham Hotspur’s charge towards Champions League football continued with a victory on Saturday, as they beat Crystal Palace 3-1.
It was a vital win for Ange Postecoglou’s side, especially after losing 2-1 at home last weekend to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Ange Postecoglou
Around the hour mark, it seemed as though it would be consecutive home defeats as Eberechi Eze gave the visitors the lead, but Spurs showed character and belief to pick up the three points.
Nonetheless, there was one individual who was simply outstanding and once again proved to be undroppable.
Cristian Romero’s 23/24 season in numbers
Cristian Romero has been an absolute rock at the heart of Spurs’ backline, especially under the Australian boss this season and alongside Micky van de Ven.
The "incredible" Argentine, as lauded by journalist Alasdair Gold this season, has started 21 matches in the Premier League this campaign, showing his vast skill set and ability to affect the game in both penalty boxes.
ederson-cristian-romero-spurs
Over the campaign, Romero has scored four goals and kept five clean sheets while displaying his dominance both on and off the ball, as you can see by some of his key statistics from this season below.
Touches
89.1
Pass accuracy
92%
Interceptions
1.3
Tackles
2.0
Duels won
5.1
All of that was on display again this weekend in arguably his best performance in a Spurs shirt this campaign.
Romero’s game in numbers against Palace
Spurs were excellent from the first whistle to the last, despite going behind. Their dominance can be highlighted by their 78% possession, as well as the fact that Palace only had four shots all game and an xG of 0.32.
Cristian Romero for Tottenham
In truth, Romero didn’t have much defending to do other than deal with set pieces and long balls into the striker, hence his zero tackles, clearances, and blocks.
However, the 25-year-old showcased his ability to control the game and progress the ball, which was ultimately vital to Spurs overturning their deficit.
Goals
1
Touches
132
Passes (Accuracy)
117 (93%)
Passes into final third
15
Shots on target
2
Romero proved his importance to the side in the build-up, having the technical security and bravery to fire the ball into the final third 15 times while also taking a mammoth 132 touches and making 117 passes.
The fact that his pass accuracy was as high as 93% despite having such a high number is immense, but it was his threat in the final third that cements him as a rather complete defender.
After Timo Werner equalised in the 77th minute, the World Cup winner also scored the vital goal to put Tottenham one goal up, showing striker-esque movement to guide a header home from a looping James Maddison cross.
Overall, it was the perfect centre-half performance by Romero, even without the goal, and it further cemented him as one of the most important players for Postecoglou and Spurs.
Whilst continued FFP struggles could see Everton hamstrung in the transfer market this summer, it appears they have already lined up a replacement for one of their stars linked with a move away.
Latest Everton transfer news
With balancing the books in the midst of a takeover the most important job for the Toffees at the moment, a number of outgoings at the club are expected to take place this summer. Midfielder Amadou Onana has already been linked with a move to both Chelsea and Newcastle, with the Belgian unlikely to be playing his football at Goodison Park next season.
Everton chiefs expect star to demand exit to highest bidder if relegated
The Toffees could suffer a triple blow this summer.
ByTom Cunningham Mar 1, 2024
Another likely transfer is 21-year-old Jarrad Branthwaite, who has caught the attention of top Premier League sides during his first full campaign with the Toffees. Spurs and Man United have both expressed an interest in the defender, who looks certain to be departing Merseyside this summer.
Whilst losing Branthwaite would be disappointing for Everton fans, it appears that the club have already lined up a replacement who could fill the departing player's shoes.
Everton interested in defender with "a lot of potential"
As first reported by The Daily Mirror, Everton are interested in signing Jacob Greaves from Hull City. The outlet states that the Toffees are already drawing up plans for Branthwaite's potential departure with Greaves at the top of their wishlist.
As far as Everton are concerned, trading one young left-footed central defender for another would be smart business, with Greaves already showing that he has the ability to play in the top flight. The 23-year-old has been one of the standout performers in Liam Rosenior's playoff-chasing Tigers, only missing one league game all season.
Jacob Greaves in action for Hull City in the Championship.
This most recent campaign has seen the confidence of Hull's vice-captain skyrocket, becoming a lot more natural on the ball and acting as a vital cog in Rosenior's possession-centric system. Greaves' stats for the season see him rank seventh in the division for passes completed whilst still winning the fourth most aerial duels.
From this it is clear that the Englishman is something of a unique talent in this current crop of Championship defenders. Comfortable with the ball at his feet, Greaves is still able to do the defensive dirty work that Sean Dyche can rely upon.
Unfortunately for Everton fans, Premier League attention is nothing new to Greaves, and it is likely that they will face opposition to secure his services this summer. Whilst links to Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa last year amounted to nothing, it is likely that there could be an ensuing bidding war for the defender.
Speaking on last season's rumours, Rosenior praised Greaves' time at Hull City so far telling the press: "Jacob's an outstanding player. Would I rather have him here from a footballing point of view? One hundred percent, because he's got so much potential and so much to learn."
"He's brilliant. He's naturally an outstanding player. He's captain when Lewie's (Coyle) not on the pitch, he's got a lot of potential, he understands the game."
One saving grace for the Toffees is that Greaves' agent is the same as their shot stopper Jordan Pickford. In the event that there is a battle to secure his services, it could be England's number one who convinces Greaves to move to Merseyside.
He powered Perth Scorchers to their highest BBL score with an unbeaten 93 as Brisbane Heat fell short by 34 runs
Tristan Lavalette11-Jan-2020A belligerent Mitchell Marsh powered Perth Scorchers to their highest BBL score and an important 34-run victory over Brisbane Heat at Perth Stadium.After electing to bat, the Scorchers captain took advantage of a batting paradise with an astounding 41-ball unbeaten 93 highlighted by eight sixes to energise the Scorchers faithful. Marsh, who notched his highest BBL score, dominated a 124-run partnership with Cameron Bancroft (41*) to lift the home side to a mighty 3 for 213.In reply, Tom Banton hit a rapid 55 but lacked support as the Scorchers easily won for just the fourth time from 12 attempts at Perth Stadium. It was their second straight victory over Heat in as many weeks.Pattinson struggles amid Scorchers flurryAustralian Test fast bowler James Pattinson had a tough BBL season debut when a pumped-up Josh Inglis cracked his first ball to the boundary in a sign of things to come. Pattinson’s struggles forced captain Chris Lynn to turn to in-form spinner Zahir Khan in the third over, but Inglis – who hit six boundaries in his first 12 deliveries – was unperturbed as he pounced on uncharacteristically loose bowling.Inglis looked unstoppable until he tamely chipped back to Josh Lalor. Inglis’ exit meant a return of Pattinson, but his horror start continued when Max Bryant dropped a sharp chance at backward point to reprieve Sam Whiteman in the fifth over.After a sedate start, Liam Livingstone found his groove and attacked Zahir in the sixth over to cap off an outstanding Powerplay for the Scorchers, where they amassed 63 runs.Ben Laughlin deceived Whiteman with a slower delivery as Heat dried the runs. But with big-hitters Livingstone and Marsh at the crease, Scorchers appeared well poised at 2 for 87 in ten overs.Marsh eviscerates HeatHeat clawed back when a frustrated Livingstone ungainly fell to a Zahir full toss, as the contest tightened in the middle overs. Scorchers failed to score a boundary for six overs with Marsh and Bancroft content on knocking the ball around on the wide expanses of Perth Stadium.Marsh ended the drought in the 14th over when he clubbed a Laughlin short delivery into the crowd to signal his intentions. He set his sights on a returning Pattinson in the 16th over with two sixes to further dent the big quick’s grim figures. He finished with figures of 0 for 52 from 4 overs.Bancroft joined the party with several lusty blows to expose Heat’s lack of bowling depth. Marsh was dropped by Banton on 54 and made them pay with an outrageous flick into the crowd off Lalor in the 19th over, followed by another six.Marsh then outdid himself with three successive sixes off Laughlin to complete the innings in style and ensure Scorchers easily beat their previous highest BBL score of 7 for 203.Heat lose wickets around aggressive BantonHeat needed a flyer and Banton got them rolling with a slew of boundaries off Scorchers’ fast bowlers. His most astounding shot was a premeditated ramp shot off Jhye Richardson in the fourth over to fuel hope. But his partner Bryant couldn’t get going and holed out moments later to bring Lynn to the crease.Marsh unsuccessfully tried Fawad Ahmed inside the Powerplay with the spinner leaking 19 runs, marked by a towering six from Lynn over long-off. The partnership menaced until Lynn holed out to a brilliant catch from a sliding Livingstone to put the onus on Banton.Straight after the Powerplay, Joel Paris, who replaced youngster Matthew Kelly in the team, claimed Matt Renshaw as Scorchers continued to chip away. Banton proved a thorn and brought up his half-century with a crunching straight drive off Marsh, but fell shortly after when he skied a return catch to Chris Jordan. His dismissal left Heat 4 for 89 at the halfway point with their faint hopes slipping away.Party time for ScorchersAfter his tough start, Ahmed bowled much better in the middle overs to shackle Heat, who did not score a boundary for five overs. Ben Cutting needed to hit top gear immediately but couldn’t get going.He had a reprieve in the 15th over when Cameron Green dropped a sitter and then smashed a six next ball. But Cutting’s luck ended when he hit straight to backward square leg to effectively end the contest.The back-end was party time for Scorchers on the disco themed night at Perth Stadium, as the Heat’s three-game winning streak ended.
‘Tough call’ to omit Starc, admits Justin Langer, but right-arm seamer’s miserly spells give him the edge
Daniel Brettig at Lord's14-Aug-2019Those who witnessed Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in tandem at Worcester got confirmation – if no actual match play evidence – that the former fast man is better suited to Australia’s Ashes plan than the latter as the right armer was included in the team for the Lord’s Test in place of the rested James Pattinson.Starc’s expensive first spell in the tour game, bowling four overs at a cost of 27 albeit with one wicket, provided a reminder of the regular boundary release balls he is always in danger of bowling in England, while Hazlewood’s far more economical effort (4-2-2-2) in the same passage of play late on day one offered all the evidence the tour selectors required to choose him once it became clear that Pattinson still had some residual stiffness from his Edgbaston efforts.”He’s got an outstanding record. He’s built up over the past few months,” Langer said of Hazlewood. “He missed out on the World Cup because we felt he hadn’t played much cricket. We know he’s an outstanding bowler, we know that the style of play against England that his best he should execute those plans really well. He has bowled well the last couple of weeks and we hope he does a good job this Test match.”Just the style of play we want to play here against England, he hits a great length, he’s usually pretty miserly with his economy rate, that’s what gave him the edge in this game. Don’t get me wrong, it was a hard decision. If it comes off we know what we are doing, if it doesn’t we don’t, that’s just the business we are in. It was a tough call.”Less demanding was the discussion with Pattinson that led to his resting, after prior history indicating that asking the 29-year-old to play two Tests in a row can often have highly damaging consequences.Tellingly, Langer indicated that Pattinson needed some assuaging of his own doubts about how he had been managed in the past.”We collaborated on that one,” Langer said. “And I think it’s been important for him in his return to cricket, I think in the past he’s felt a bit that he had to play and had to play and had to push and had to push and in those instances he usually broke at some point. It was really good collaboration between the two of us, that was our deal in Hampshire when we talked about what his progress would be at Notts and we have had really good communication with Notts as well so yeah he’s fine.”We talked about it. He was a little bit stiff after bowling on Monday morning. We knew he would only bowl one of the two back to back games, and whilst he’s had eight or nine days, we knew he couldn’t play back to back Test matches. We just felt that having pulled up a little stiff after bowling and we thought it would be common sense to keep getting himself hungry and prepared for the third Test.”ALSO READ: Langer lauds fast-bowling depth but warns against complacencyThe Pattinson example may be part of a wider evolution of fast bowler management in Australia, coinciding as it does with the appointment of two new Cricket Australia team performance chiefs in Ben Oliver (national teams) and Drew Ginn (high performance). Their predecessor Pat Howard helped advance the conversation on how to manage fast bowlers in the face of plenty of criticism, and a deep Ashes squad of six pacemen capable of being rotated according to fitness and match conditions is part of his legacy.”It’s the first time in however long I’ve been coaching that we’ve actually had the luxury of having six high class fast bowlers fit up and running,” Langer said. “We’re lucky to have the situation to be able to do that but it doesn’t happen very often. That’s the truth, and maybe that’s why a number of bowlers break down over time, because you’ve got to keep pushing and pushing and pushing, particularly in series, particularly with the schedules as they are now.”We’ve got five Test matches in six weeks, plus a couple of county games in between, so if you have got guys fit you’re not constantly pushing them, which ultimately leads to breaking them and with the unnatural action of a bowler, if you keep doing the same thing over and over, history will tell you that’s what happens. So if we’re lucky enough to have guys we can keep bringing in and out and firing, that’s a real luxury to have.”Tim Paine prepares for the toss-that-wasn’t•Getty Images
As for the first day one of an Ashes Test to be abandoned without a ball bowled since the 1998 Boxing Day Test at the MCG, and the first at Lord’s since 1997, Langer said the awkwardness of a possible toss of the coin at 3pm had raised some intriguing conversation.”We had a joke there for a moment, if the captain tosses the coin and he wins the toss can he ask the opposition to make the choice,” Langer said. “I think we decided you can’t do that. A couple of the umpires weren’t sure, but they checked for us, but you have to make a decisions. It is going to be a tough call. Today would have been tough, we knew there was a bit of rain around, some overhead conditions, the grass is wet and knowing the Dukes ball gets a bit soft when it gets a bit wet. Lucky Tim didn’t have to make the decision. We’ll see how it pulls up but it looks like a pretty good cricket wicket. Quite dry through underneath.”At this stage we’ll only lose two hours in the Test match so it won’t affect too much. Depending on weather, which we can’t control, we’ll still, there’s plenty of time. Two hours in the Test match isn’t much in the overall, in the bigger picture of it. There’ll be longer sessions we’re going to have to deal with but our guys have said all along we have to keep adapting and be ready with whatever the conditions or the situation of the game throws up at us.”
da cassino： O Flamengo não terá desfalques por suspensão na rodada final do Brasileirão, contra o São Paulo, na próxima quinta-feira. Na vitória por 2 a 1 sobre o Internacional, que colocou o Rubro-Negro na liderança, o time entrou com três titulares pendurados – Gabriel Barbosa, Filipe Luís e Gustavo Henrique -, mas nenhum deles recebeu cartão amarelo e ficam à disposição do técnico Rogério Ceni, que também estava com dois cartões e comandará o time no Morumbi.
O lateral-direito João Lucas, que também entrou no decorrer da partida, também estava pendurado com dois cartões amarelos, mas também não foi advertido diante do Colorado. Assim, para a partida contra o São Paulo, o Flamengo só terá baixas por lesão, como o goleiro Diego Alves e o volante Thiago Maia. As situações de Willian Arão e Michael serão reavaliadas.
RelacionadasFora de CampoInternautas brincam com expulsão de Rodinei contra o Flamengo: ‘R$ 1 milhão nunca foi tão mal gasto’Fora de Campo21/02/2021FlamengoFlamengo vence o Internacional de virada, assume liderança e fica a uma vitória do título do BrasileirãoFlamengo21/02/2021FlamengoIda de VP da CBF ao hotel do Inter antes de ‘decisão’ é criticada pelo Flamengo: ‘Total insensibilidade’Flamengo21/02/2021
Newcastle United enjoyed a fantastic January transfer window as they made a number of key additions to Eddie Howe’s squad.
PIF brought in Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes, Matt Targett and Chris Wood and they have all played a part in the club’s revival in the second half of the season.
The Magpies are now 14 points clear of the bottom three and look set for another campaign in the Premier League, with central defender Burn playing a huge role in their recent success.
He joined from Brighton in January and has averaged a solid SofaScore rating of 7.01 in the top-flight this season for the Toon and the Seagulls combined.
Forget Dan Burn
Whilst the giant Englishman has been an excellent addition to the team, the Magpies now have the chance to sign a player who will make the fans quickly forget about him.
German outlet Bild recently reported that Newcastle are interested in signing Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka, who is valued at £24m (€28m).
The French tank can be the club’s new defensive leader and be an upgrade on Burn or play alongside him as he has proven his quality in Germany this year.
Frankfurt boss Adi Hutter previously showered the gem with praise, saying: “I honestly have to say that I was surprised by his development. Evan has developed phenomenally. He’s very attentive in the analysis of his own game. He’s very modest and always takes a lot on board.”
The centre-back has also received applause from former Frankfurt player Alexander Schur as he claimed the Frenchman “shows no nerves” and “plays with great authority.”
In the Bundesliga this season, Ndicka has averaged a fantastic SofaScore rating of 7.14. He has made an impressive 3.4 tackles and interceptions per game and won 60% of his duels, showing that he has been putting in consistent performances and dominating opposition attackers throughout the campaign.
Ndicka also ranks higher than Burn for progressive passes, progressive carries, dribbles completed and pass completion per 90 mins over the last 365 days. This means that the Frankfurt man would be an upgrade on the current Toon star in terms of what he offers in possession, whilst his statistics in the Bundesliga in comparison to Burn’s in the Premier League suggest that his all-round displays would also be better.
Therefore, Howe can land a new defensive leader for Newcastle by bringing him to the club this summer. He has shown that he has the quality to be a major player at St. James’ Park and he has the potential to improve further at the age of 22, which means that he would be a sublime signing for now and for the future.
AND in other news, Bid planned: Howe must seal NUFC deal for £30m “monster” whose “simplicity is genius”…
Mohamed Salah is hopeful that he will be fit for Liverpool’s Champions League final clash against Real Madrid, according to journalist James Pearce.
The Lowdown: Salah injured in final win
The Reds enjoyed FA Cup glory on Saturday following a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea at Wembley, winning their second trophy of the season.
Salah didn’t even make it to half-time, though, limping off with a groin injury and immediately sparking concern surrounding his involvement in the Champions League final on May 28th.
However, a hopeful update has now emerged regarding the 29-year-old’s situation.
[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-32/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]
The Latest: Pearce provides Salah injury update
Taking to Twitter on Saturday night a few hours after the FA Cup final, Pearce confirmed that Salah is confident of being fit for the Champions League showpiece against Real Madrid in Paris.
The journalist tweeted: ” ‘Of course, all good’ says Mo Salah when asked if he will be fit for the CL final in Paris.”
The Verdict: Wrap him in cotton wool
While there is no official confirmation surrounding the severity of Salah’s injury, that he believes he will be fit for the 28th is certainly an enormous positive.
Having gone off injured in the 2018 decider against the same opposition, it would be cruel for the 29-year-old to suffer Champions League final heartache yet again – more importantly, Liverpool need arguably their best player on the pitch.
Salah will do all he can to prove himself, although Jurgen Klopp should be wary of not letting his heart rule his head in the meantime, only starting the Egyptian if he is ready.
There is enough depth in the squad to make do without him from the start these days, which is a very different situation to four years ago. Therefore, Klopp must wrap the 29-year-old in cotton wool for the Premier League games against Southampton and Wolves this week.
In other news, Klopp has reportedly set his sights on one Liverpool signing. Read more here.
Dermot Gallagher has now revealed why one Arsenal star wasn’t sent off in a controversial moment during the 2-1 victory against Newcastle United on Sunday.
Gunners come from behind to win at St. James' Park
Prior to Sunday’s encounter, Newcastle had won four of their previous five matches against the Gunners at St. James’ Park, but Mikel Arteta’s side sent out a statement by ending their hoodoo, picking up all three points in dramatic fashion.
Arteta has received widespread criticism for his decision to persist with Mikel Merino in recent weeks, but the Spaniard rewarded his manager for his faith by bagging a late equaliser, before Gabriel headed home in stoppage time to secure an important victory on the road.
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Speaking after the match, Arteta insisted his side thoroughly deserved the victory, saying: “When you get what you deserve at the end there’s no better feeling. I’m so proud of the team and the way we controlled our emotions and navigated through the different stages of the game. We showed the conviction, the courage the desire and the quality we need to get where we want to be.”
However, things could’ve been very different. Gabriel may not have even been on the pitch to bag the late winner if Nick Woltemade had made more of a bust-up with the Brazilian earlier in the match, where the defender appeared to punch the Newcastle striker away from the ball.
Speaking Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, Gallagher said: “I think he’s lucky he didn’t actually strike him properly, because where he’s got lucky is is the referee hasn’t seen it, it’s gone to VAR and the VAR say red card or nothing, and it’s decided it’s not a red card. I don’t think it’s a red card, but I think if the referee sees it he’s certainly going to get a yellow card.”
Gabriel fortunate Woltemade didn't go down
Had the Newcastle striker made more of the incident and gone to ground, the Arsenal centre-back could have been in trouble, given that he clearly makes contact with the German’s face, albeit without a great deal of strength.
That said, the Magpies can also consider themselves fortunate that the decision to award Arsenal a penalty in the first half was overturned, with VAR getting involved after Jarred Gillett pointed to the spot for what he perceived to be a foul on Viktor Gyokeres.
Decisions went against both teams during the match, but Arteta’s side ultimately showed great character to come out on top, moving just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool in the process.