Liverpool beats Athletic twice in a day with Salah and Gakpo

Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo shone in Liverpool’s victory over Athletic Club, in the second of two pre-season friendlies at Anfield. The match culminated in a 3-2 score in favor of the Reds. Following the 4-1 victory of Liverpool’s substitute players over the Spanish club in the afternoon, coach Arne Slot made changes to the starting eleven for the evening match. Liverpool started with impetus, with Gakpo and Florian Wirtz generating danger before the new signing, Hugo Ekitike, assisted Salah for the first goal at 14 minutes. Although Liverpool dominated, Athletic Club equalized in the first half thanks to Oihan Sancet, who took advantage of a defensive error after a free kick. However, Liverpool regained the lead after the break, when Gakpo scored after a rebound from goalkeeper Unai Simón from a shot by Ryan Gravenberch.

Athletic Club drew again when Gakpo deflected a corner into his own net. The Dutch international quickly redeemed himself, scoring the winning goal with a powerful shot that Simón let slip with 20 minutes to go. Salah missed a penalty at the end of the match. In the first match of the double header, 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha opened the scoring with a spectacular individual play. Subsequently, he assisted Darwin Núñez to score from close range at five minutes. Ben Doak and Harvey Elliott’s goals secured the victory before Athletic Club narrowed the gap with a header from Gorka Guruzeta in the second half.

It was the first time Liverpool had played at Anfield since the passing of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, with former Liverpool captain Phil Thompson and Athletic Club president Jon Uriarte laying floral tributes in tribute. Jota’s chant echoed in the stands throughout the night and there was a minute of applause in the 20th minute of both matches in recognition of Jota’s shirt number, which Liverpool confirmed they would retire last month.

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I think in both matches we created a lot of chances, we scored seven goals, four in the first, three in the second, so that’s very nice to see because we definitely didn’t score all the opportunities we had. Especially in the second match in the first half, I think we could have scored some more goals than we did. That pleased me more, the ability to create the opportunities and even score seven goals in two matches is also good.

Slot

Virgil van Dijk did not participate due to illness, while defenders Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez were absent due to injuries. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker was also not called up, having left Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the Far East last week for personal reasons. Liverpool will travel to Wembley on Sunday to face Crystal Palace in the FA Community Shield before beginning their Premier League campaign at home against Bournemouth on August 14. Asked if he is excited about Liverpool’s new attack this season, Slot said: “Yes, but we have also lost two quality players with Diogo [Jota] and [Luis Díaz]. But we have added Hugo [Ekitike], definitely a player who is going to be very good for us. Rio is showing good things every time in the preseason. “In the other preseason games, I think we’ve conceded too many chances. Today we’ve barely conceded anything, so I also liked that. But then to concede, especially in the second match, two goals from set pieces, that’s not what you want, especially if you’re playing against Crystal Palace [on Sunday], who are a very strong team from set pieces. That’s another thing we have to work on, we’ve already worked on it, but we’ll work on it even more next week. But the players are in shape, they’ve worked very hard, they’ve played good football, they’ve defended very well and well, apart from the two set pieces.