The Reds recovered from conceding an early goal to re-open a six-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table.

Photo by Getty Images

Some things are just too precious to let go of.

Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season continues, their incredible home record goes on.

They’ve got balls of steel, Jurgen Klopp’s side. They needed them here, battling back from a goal down to beat Tottenham 2-1 at Anfield. Their ninth league win of the campaign keeps the Reds six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table.

It came thanks to a rare strike from captain Jordan Henderson, his first home goal in almost four years, and Mohamed Salah’s nerveless penalty, 15 minutes from time. Spurs had led through Harry Kane’s goal, but just as in the Champions League final, they were to leave with nothing. They must be sick of the sight of those red jerseys by now.

How the Kop roared. They’d watched their side fall behind inside the first minute, yet still muster the spirit, the energy and the courage for a rousing comeback. “Our mentality has improved,” said Henderson afterwards. This was the sixth time this season they’ve won by a single goal.

In fairness, had it not been for the work of Paulo Gazzaniga, the Tottenham goalkeeper, their afternoon might have been a lot more comfortable. This was among Liverpool’s better performances this season. They had 21 shots, 15 of them inside the penalty area. Thirteen of them were on target.

Still, it can’t be good for your health, all this.

It’s only October, but here we are. The Premier League title race is well and truly on, and blood pressures are already through the roof.

Strap yourselves in.

Manchester City’s routine win over Aston Villa on Saturday had cranked up the tension, but this response speaks volumes for Liverpool’s character. “Mentality giants,” Klopp calls them. They stood 10 feet tall here. They knew they’d win, even when it looked like they’d lose.

They’d been shocked by Kane’s opener, nodded in at the Kop end after just 47 seconds, but they should really have been ahead and cruising by half-time. Gazzaniga made saves from Salah, Roberto Firmino, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Sadio Mane missed a golden chance. Somehow, Liverpool trailed at the break.

Could it be that their luck was about to run out?

Think again. Henderson, far from a universally-popular selection with supporters in midfield, had struggled in the first half but he was about to step up for his team after the interval, big time. Fabinho, majestic throughout, clipped a pass into the penalty area, Firmino and Danny Rose tangled and the ball fell loose. The skipper did the rest, his left-footed strike into the far corner prompting wild celebrations. He hadn’t scored here since December 2015. He might not score many more important in the future.

Spurs will reflect on a huge moment just before that when Son Heung-Min rounded Alisson Becker, only to see his shot strike the crossbar. Just as with Moussa Sissoko in this fixture back in March, the margins were with Liverpool. “They are getting those little breaks,” moaned Kane afterwards.

They certainly got one in the closing stages, when Serge Aurier’s clumsy challenge on Mane in the box drew a penalty. James Milner took the decisive one against Leicester here last time, but this time Salah stepped up to dispatch it past Gazzaniga for his eighth goal of the season, low and hard. The relief was palpable.

Liverpool saw it out professionally, with Fabinho immense in the middle and Alisson the calmest man in the stadium during four excruciating minutes of added time. At the final blast of Anthony Taylor’s whistle, the party began. “How football should look,” said Klopp. “I loved it.”

What a win. Reports of Spurs’ demise have been greatly exaggerated. Mauricio Pochettino’s side have quality in abundance, and certainly know how to cause Liverpool problems.

They don’t, though, have a way to beat them at the moment.

Not many do, in fairness. The mentality giants march on.

Balls of steel.

Source – Goal.com

The midfielder joins an illustrious list of players to score landmark goals in the English top flight, although United’s penalty woes continued.

Photo by Getty Images

Scott McTominay’s opening goal for Manchester United against Norwich City has seen the Red Devils set a Premier League record as they reached 2000 goals in the division.

The Scotland international midfielder scored midway through the first half to give his team the lead halfway through the first period in United’s Sunday evening visit to Carrow Road.

The goal was the club’s 2000th in the Premier League, and they are the first club to pass that figure.

It was the 22-year-old academy product’s fourth goal for the club and his scoring record, albeit early in his career, pales in comparison with some of the names on the list of the Old Trafford sides landmark goalscorers.

They opened their account in the competition through Mark Hughes in August 1992. The Wales international made 345 appearances for United over two spells, scoring 120 goals, though that particular strike came in a 2-1 loss to Sheffield United.

Andy Cole scored their 500th in the Premier League, during the most famous season of their storied history. Cole’s February 1999 goal, one of 93 he bagged in Manchester, was part of a season that saw them win the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, the first and so far only team to do so.

They reached 1,000 thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo in 2005. The then 20-year-old was still finding his way at that stage of his career but has since gone on to be seen as one of the greatest players of all time.

Dimitar Berbatov scored the 1,500th goal in United’s Premier League history six years after Ronaldo’s landmark strike, part of a sensational spell in North West England for the Bulgarian.

The striker, signed from Tottenham, banged in 48 goals in just 108 games for Sir Alex Ferguson.

It is unlikely that defensive midfielder McTominay will emulate the goalscoring exploits of the other names in that list, but a player who may is Marcus Rashford.

The England international scored soon after McTominay. It marked his 50th goal in a United shirt and just the first time since the first day of the Premier League season they have scored multiple goals in a game in any competition.

One place from which United are definitely struggling to convert, though, is the penalty spot. Both Rashford and Anthony Martial erred spot-kicks before half-time to leave the Reds 2-0 ahead going into the break.

United have now missed four times from the spot this season, with Rashford, Martial and Pogba all guilty of spurning chances – the first time three different players have failed in a single term since 2012-13.

Source – Goal.com

Atletico Madrid snapped a three-game winless streak in La Liga by beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at home on Saturday to move level on points with table-topping Barcelona.

Atletico Madrid’s players celebrate after scoring a goal against Athletic Bilbao. Getty Images

Saul Niguez put injury-stricken Atletico ahead in the 28th minute while Alvaro Morata bundled the ball in from close range in the 64th to seal their first home league win for four games.

Atletico have 19 points after 10 games along with champions Barca, who have a game in hand after the ‘Clasico‘ against Real Madrid was postponed until December due to security concerns.

“Today the fans were on our side and that makes you much more up for the game from the start,” Saul told reporters.

“We always go out looking to win and the three draws in a row [in la Liga] had left us with a bittersweet taste so it was vital that we won today.”

Atletico were without their record €126 million signing Joao Felix due to an ankle injury and first-choice central defenders Jose Gimenez and Stefan Savic, while Diego Simeone left out Diego Costa in favour of Angel Correa.

Argentine Correa has enjoyed little first team football this season and was making only his second start in the league but he played a decisive role in the victory by setting up both goals.

He used strength and pace to burst into the box and roll the ball across for Saul to strike it into the net to break the deadlock against an Athletic side who before the game had the joint-best defensive record in the league along with Atletico.

Correa then got down to the byline to send a low cross towards Morata, who only had to guide the ball into the net.

The visitors had nearly taken the lead early in the game when defender Inigo Martinez glanced a header towards the top corner but Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak produced an outstanding leaping save to keep the effort out.

Athletic then had a half-hearted appeal for a penalty waved away shortly after the opening goal when Iker Muniain appeared to be pushed to the ground by Saul.

Source – ESPN

With VAR watching every move, even being a substitute can end up costing your side.

New Holstein Kiel midfielder Michael Eberwein has arguably made the worst first impression in football history after conceding a penalty for his side as a substitute against Bochum.

The two clubs were facing off in Bundesliga 2 on Friday when Eberwein, who joined Holstein Kiel in June and is yet to make his debut, was penalised for stopping the ball on the byline in the box before it went out of play as he was warming up.

While the referee initially missed his interference, VAR didn’t and quickly called for a spot-kick to be given with Eberwein also shown a yellow card for his innocuous mistake.

According to the rules of the International FA Board, should a substitute interfere with play, a referee can award a direct free-kick or penalty depending on the infringement.

In this case, because Eberwein’s contact came inside his side’s own box, a spot-kick was awarded with Bochum’s Silvere M’Boussy happily stepping up to dispatch it in the 38th minute.

“Dust off the rule book, that is the punishment… incredible,” the commentator for the match said.

“One of the most bizarre moments in Bundesliga 2 history. Holstein Kiel and their supporters are stunned. This is absolutely crazy. I doubt you’ll see many moments like this again in German football.”

Thankfully for Eberwein and his side, Holstein Kiel would still go on to win the game 2-1 with the club currently seventh in Germany‘s second division.

Eberwein began his career in Bayern Munich‘s youth system before joining Borussia Dortmund II in 2015 where he stayed for three years prior to linking up with Fortuna Koln.

Having only joined Holstein Kiel in June this year, Eberwein is yet to play a minute for his new club and will no doubt be desperate to make a more positive impression once he does take to the pitch.

Kiel coach Ole Werner attempted to find the lighter side of the incident post-match, with the win ensuring Eberwein’s impact wasn’t as costly as it could have been.

“Now we can laugh about it,” Werner said. “Michi will probably have to listen to some spells for the remainder of the season.”

Source – Goal.com

The Blues boss saw his team collect a 3-0 victory over Dean Smith’s side, with a marked improved after the interval seeing them to three points.

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Pep Guardiola says a relegation battle, rather than a title tussle, awaits his Manchester City side if they repeat their first-half performance against Aston Villa.

The defending Premier League champions were frustrated and contained for 45 minutes at the Etihad Stadium against Dean Smith’s side.

Whatever Guardiola said at the interval, it made an immediate impact as Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock inside seconds of the restart.

City eventually ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, despite having Fernandinho sent off, and have closed the gap on table-topping Liverpool to three points – with the Reds not in action until Sunday.

Guardiola believes his side are more than capable of sustaining a challenge for a third successive title, but has also warned that they will head in the opposite direction if standards are not maintained.

He told reporters: “Six days ago we were eight points, now we are three.

“I am not concerned about the table. I am concerned about the way we played.

“If we play the level we played in the second half we can be there at the end of the season I am sure of that.

“If we play the way we did in the first half, we will be in the relegation positions far away from the leaders of the table. That is my view. Not just this season but all the time.

“The first half we play football but not in the way we should play.

“The second half we were better, an early goal in the second half helped us and we played in the way we normally are but we have to try to play 90 minutes and not just 45.”

Pressed further on the opening 45 minutes and why his side were so flat, Guardiola said: “Normally we use a word aggressive. I like to use this word aggressive when you have the ball.

“Raheem [Sterling] was the only player who was aggressive with the ball in the first half.

“In the second half we imitated him. He showed us the way we have to play and it was much better.

“The aggression is how you make movements, making the build-up quicker, how you give the pass, how you attack, how you arrive with the ball and be aggressive with the ball. We were not aggressive in the first half and in the second half it happened.”

Sterling, fresh from a Champions League hat-trick against Atalanta in midweek, led the way again for City.

Guardiola is delighted to see the England international ignoring the hype which continues to build around him, with the 24-year-old forward proving to be a model of consistency and professionalism.

He said: “What I like the most about Raheem was one thing: after scoring three goals against Atalanta, making an assist and winning a penalty, and being involved in the final third, everybody in the media says how good you are, normally the next game you play a little like: ‘Look how good I am’. And it was completely the opposite.

“Look at Phil Foden, he played 25 minutes like it was the last 15 minutes of his life. That is our strength as a team in the last years together. Every single game, every three days.

“Today Raheem has played all the minutes, I am so proud of him.”

Source – Goal.com

A Liverpool legend has questioned whether a midfielder on loan from Barcelona adds anything extra to Niko Kovac’s current line up at Allianz Arena.

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Philippe Coutinho “only counts as half a player” for Bayern Munich at the moment, according to Dietmar Hamann, who feels the attacker is not contributing enough going forward or in defence for his new club.

The Brazil international joined Bayern on a season-long deal from Barcelona in August, after being deemed surplus to requirements for the 2019-20 season by Camp Nou boss Ernesto Valverde.

Much was expected of Coutinho when he completed a £142 million ($182m) switch to Barca from Liverpool in January 2018, but he has struggled to stand out in a side full of world-class talent.

The 27-year-old has been handed the chance to reignite his career in Germany and has already emerged as a regular in Niko Kovac’s starting line-up.

Coutinho has contributed two goals and three assists in eight appearances across all competitions for Bayern this term, but former Liverpool midfielder Hamann has been unimpressed by his start to life in the Bundesliga.

“For me, he is a stranger in the team,” he told Sport Bild. “I cannot remember a good situation [he’s produced] in attack.

“If you have such a player in the team and he does not show any special moments, then, of course, you get problems because in the defence he only counts as half a player.

“He has 30 or 35 games left so he has to start sometime [to show good performances]. He is still on loan from Barca until the end of the season.”

Coutinho took in another full 90 minutes of action as Bayern secured a narrow 3-2 win at Olympiacos on Tuesday night.

The mercurial midfielder was unable to affect the Champions League clash in any meaningful way, but Kovac defended his performance during a post-match press conference.

“At the moment he lacks a little bit of luck,” said the Bayern head coach. “He always has good actions. I am very satisfied with his performance as well as with the performance of the others.”

Coutinho will have another chance to prove himself when the German champions welcome Union Berlin to the Allianz Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Bayern are currently sitting third in the Bundesliga, but they could return to the summit if results go their way this weekend, with current leaders Borussia Monchengladbach due to take in a tough trip to Bayer Leverkusen.

Source – Goal.com

Travelling fans had a banner removed by Reds officials and the club are now seeking to identify those responsible for displaying the racist stereotype.

Liverpool have denounced a banner which had been displayed by fans depicting Reds forward Divock Origi with an abnormally large penis, a racist stereotype which the club have called “highly offensive and inappropriate”.

The banner was unfurled by away fans at the Luminus Arena ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League group stage clash with Genk, and was removed by club officials following an online backlash on social media.

A Liverpool statement read: “Liverpool Football Club condemns the offensive banner displayed in our section of the ground, prior to kick off.

“To be clear, the image used perpetuated a racist stereotype. This is completely unacceptable.

“We acted swiftly to have the banner removed and we are now working with the local authorities and stadium team in Genk to identify those responsible.

“Any subsequent action will be taken in keeping with our sanctions process.”

The stereotype has its historical origins in the oppression of black men in America, an animalistic portrayal which was intended to show a sexual threat posed by African American men towards white women in particular.

Accusations of sexual violence or misconduct were historically used as a justification for the lynching of black men in America. One notorious example of such violence was that of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American kidnapped and murdered in 1955 after being accused of flirting with a white woman.

The origin of the stereotype isn’t widely known, and some fans opted to defend the banner on social media. It has been estimated that nearly 3,500 African American men were lynched in the USA between 1882 and 1968.

A second banner in the Liverpool away end read: “We are not racist. #LFC”

Origi became a cult hero at the club last season after scoring late goals in the Merseyside derby against Everton, and in the Champions League final against Tottenham.

Liverpool are in the spotlight at the moment after the 2011 incident between Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra returned to the headlines over the weekend.

Former vice-captain Jamie Carragher apologised for Liverpool’s decision to publicly support Suarez after he racially abused Patrice Evra eight years ago, but Evra’s team-mate at the time, Rio Ferdinand, has called on Liverpool to officially apologise for the incident.

Source – Goal.com

Cristiano Ronaldo‘s lawyers have filed court documents asking a judge in Las Vegas to either dismiss a Nevada woman’s lawsuit alleging the football star raped her in 2009 or to order closed-door settlement talks.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyers filed documents in U.S. court last week. ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Attorneys representing the woman, Kathryn Mayorga, did not immediately respond Tuesday to telephone, email and text messages seeking comment about the two recent court filings about her lawsuit stemming from a 2010 confidentiality agreement and $375,000 hush-money payment.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been victims of sexual assault, but Mayorga gave consent to be named through her lawyers, Leslie Mark Stovall and Larissa Drohobyczer.

Ronaldo’s lawyer in Las Vegas, Peter Christiansen, declined to comment about the documents he filed on Oct. 14.

The filing seeking dismissal of the case states that “Mr. Ronaldo has always maintained that this was a consensual encounter.”

A companion document also filed on Oct.14 in U.S. District Court asks the judge to order out-of-court talks to settle the lawsuit.

Mayorga alleges conspiracy, defamation, breach of contract, coercion and fraud. Her lawyers want to void the 2010 deal and collect at least $200,000 more from Ronaldo. They acknowledge that Mayorga received $375,000 in 2010. The court has kept the original agreement sealed.

Mayorga’s lawyers maintain that she didn’t break the confidentiality pledge. They accuse Ronaldo or his associates of allowing reports of it to appear in European publications in 2017.

The football star’s lawyers have said the information was among electronic data hacked, stolen and sold by cybercriminals, and that Mayorga’s lawsuit is being used to damage Ronaldo’s reputation.

Mayorga’s lawsuit said she met Ronaldo at a nightclub and went with him and other people to his suite at the Palms Hotel and Casino, where he assaulted her in a bedroom.

Las Vegas police last year reinvestigated the rape allegation, but no criminal charge was filed. The local prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to take the 10-year-old case to trial.

Ronaldo, now 34, is one of the richest athletes in the world. He plays in Italy for the Turin-based club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team.

Mayorga, now 36, is a former schoolteacher and model who lives in the Las Vegas area.

Stovall has alleged that Mayorga, then 25, was so stressed by pressure from “fixers” trying to protect the reputation of Ronaldo, then 24, that she lacked the legal capacity to sign a non-disclosure agreement 10 years ago.

A federal judge in Las Vegas has not set a hearing date on Ronaldo’s bid to stop the court case.

Source – ESPN

UEFA will wait for a report from their delegate before deciding whether to investigate how Red Star Belgrade fans got into their Champions League game at Tottenham.

Red Star Belgrade fans managed to enter the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium despite a ban from UEFA

The governing body banned Red Star’s fans from attending Tuesday night’s Group B encounter after being found guilty of racism in a qualifying game in Finland in July.

But around 200 supporters made it into the ground and congregated in the North Stand, making themselves heard with chanting before being segregated from home fans by stewards.

Spurs released a statement which said: “Red Star supporters illegally obtained individual tickets on Level 5 and made their way around to one section of the stadium in order to congregate as a group.

“Stewards and police contained the group as it was too large a number to eject. We have launched a full investigation in order to understand how tickets have been acquired.

“We shall take the strongest possible action against any individual found to have sold their ticket on.”

Heung-Min Son celebrates scoring Tottenham’s third goal against Red Star

Speaking in the pre-match press conference on Monday, Red Star coach Vladan Milojevic said he was upset his side would not have any supporters inside the stadium.

Milojevic insisted he condemns racism, but expressed a desire to see some away fans in attendance.

“This is the 21st century, it is distasteful to talk about this issue,” he said. “I absolutely condemn any racist behaviour.

“On the other hand, I would love to see our supporters here tomorrow. They really do help us, we feel better when they are around.

“I am a man of sport and I simply don’t really talk about this, but if you are asking me if I condemn this sort of behaviour, I absolutely do.”

“The Red Star fans are loud, colourful and well behaved. Their presence seemed to take Spurs by surprise – as, to begin with, there was no sign of stewards to segregate them from Tottenham fans, but this eventually happened. There are also 100 or so ‘corporate’ Red Star supporters, who were officially allowed in. But only in the corporate areas.”

Source – Sky Sport