Sports
Mane and Salah complete comeback after Sane stunner in New York
Sadio Mane’s stoppage time penalty completed a fine comeback win for Liverpool in New York.
While Mohamed Salah scored within 70 seconds of his introduction to hit the goal trail again.
Salah netted 44 times last season and he picked up where he left off as he headed home within two minutes of coming on against Pep’s pups.
He turned the game single-handedly and Manchester City ’s rookie defence could not cope with him as he was denied a second by a goalline clearance.
Leroy Sane showed he is over his World Cup disappointment by coolly finishing to give City the lead on 57 minutes before Salah struck six minutes later.
Both sides had chances to score more and Liverpool’s teenage keeper Caiomhin Kelleher saved brilliantly from Sane, while 17-year-old Curtis Jones headed just over for the Reds.
And the Reds snatched the win at the death after a dominant spell, with Mane burying the penalty after Dominic Solanke was fouled.
1. Mohamed Salah is back with a bang
Salah needed just 70 seconds to announce his return when he came off the bench to score Liverpool’s equaliser against Manchester City.
The Egypt star got a huge cheer when he came on and showed no ill effects for his shoulder injury in the Champions League Final when he headed home. The crowd inside the MetLife Stadium loved it and for many of them he was the reason they had come.
They chanted his name, willing him to score again. Salah only returned to pre-season training on Friday and Jurgen Klopp will be delighted to see the double Player of the Year pick up where he left off last season.
2. Loew clanger confirmed
What a clanger Joachim Loew dropped by not taking Leroy Sane to the World Cup.
Germany lacked pace and width as they embarrassingly crashed out of the tournament in the group phase. Sane has both of those qualities – and an eye for goal as he demonstrated against Liverpool.
Bernardo Silva played him in with a lovely defence-splitting pass and he left Virgil van Dijk for dead to race through and finish expertly.
How Loew could have done with Sane in Russia, but Germany’s loss is most certainly Manchester City’s gain and the winger will play a big part in the opening of the Blues’ title defence with so many of their World Cup players still building up their fitness.
3. Shake it off
Taylor Swift struck a wrong note with Liverpool and City. The US singer is to blame for the poor state of the pitch at the MetLife Stadium.
The grass surface was only put down at 5am on Tuesday after Taylor Swift performed here at the weekend. The grass was in terrible condition with patches of sand everywhere. Quite a bit of rain had also fallen on it and the ball skidded on the surface.
Neither Jurgen Klopp nor Pep Guardiola will be surprised to learn that the pitch will be ripped up after this match and a new one will be laid for Real Madrid’s friendly against Roma here on August 7. Let’s hope they get it sorted for the World Cup Final here in eight years’ time.
4. America’s love affair with the Premier League appears to be on the wane
The days when Manchester United played in front of a US-record crowd of 110,000 seem a long time ago. Even they, with their global appeal, have not come close to selling out their games.
Indeed, their match against AC Milan was switched from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to the smaller StubHub in Carson because of poor ticket sales.
Liverpool and Manchester City have also struggled to attract big crowds and the 52,635 crowd was 30,000 short of capacity. Perhaps the Premier League should give the US a break next summer and let the interest in it grow again.
5. Curtis Jones could be Liverpool’s latest homegrown talent
Jones caught the eye with his energy and confidence against City. Despite being 17, the attacking midfielder was not overawed about playing on such a big stage.
But then Jones does not appear fazed by anything and he made his Under-23s debut in January and began training with the senior squad towards the end of last season.
He had a taste of the big time when Klopp named him on the bench for the Merseyside derby. Jones headed over from one chance and appealed in vain for a penalty when he went down under a challenge from Cameron Humphreys. He is definitely one to keep an eye on.
