London (AFP)
Uruguayan strikers Darwin Nunes and Egyptian Mohamed Salah saved their Liverpool team from a sudden loss against its host Fulham, returning to the English Football League, by scoring a 2-2 draw, at Craven Cottage, in west London, in the first stage.
Liverpool entered the match ecstatic by winning the Community Shield, with a remarkable result over Manchester City 3-1, its traditional rivals in recent years, last Saturday, but it came out with minimal losses, after a modest display over the ninety minutes.
Liverpool German coach Jurgen Klopp played the match with the same squad that played the Community Shield, with the exception of the return of Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson between the three blocks, instead of Spaniard Adrian.
Nunes, who moved to Liverpool, started a huge deal on the bench of the reserve players, while the Brazilian Roberto Firmino took the spearhead position, with the support of Salah on the right side, and the Colombian Luis Dias on the left, while the Portuguese striker Diogo Jota was absent due to a muscle injury.
On the other hand, Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic led the attack of Fulham returning to the Premier League after a season in the “Championship”, and Mitrovic actively contributed to this return, scoring 43 goals last season in 44 games.
Liverpool began the match by pressing the keys to play in the ranks of Liverpool, specifically on the Spaniard Thiago Alcantara and the Brazilian Fabinho, so the supply of balls was completely cut off towards the three-front, and thus the threat to the Fulham goal.
Liverpool scored a goal by Dias from a curling ball from inside the area, but the referee did not calculate it due to the infiltration of Scotsman Andy Robertson, then Salah’s shy header in the hands of the goalkeeper.
Despite Liverpool’s possession of the ball in a large percentage, Fulham was the most dangerous team until it managed to open the scoring through its top scorer Mitrovic, who rose to a cross from Dutch right-back Kenny Titi over Trent Alexander Arnold, to enter the net despite Alisson’s intervention in the 32nd minute.
Fulham remained the best team at the beginning of the second half, and its Congolese player, Democratic Neskens Kibanu, almost added the second goal, but his powerful shot bounced off the post, and Nunes took part instead of the “unsuccessful” Firmino, and almost equalized, moments after an elaborate pass from Salah, who hit it with his heel But the Fulham goalkeeper saved it brilliantly.
However, the Colombian succeeded in his second attempt, a few minutes after a completely similar scenario, after a pass from Salah and a wonderful goal with the “heel” in the ceiling of the network, opening his balance in the English Premier League in the 64th minute, but Liverpool’s joy did not last long, because Fulham got On a penalty kick, after Mitrovic was blocked by Dutch defense pole Virgil van Dijk, Vanbry took it first, giving his team the lead again, and scoring his second personal goal in the 72nd minute.
Liverpool threw all his weight, and succeeded once again in the equation of numbers, after a long forehand ball from Arnold, which Salah and Nunes exchanged and prepared in front of the latter, to follow it with calm nerves into the net from a short distance in the 81st minute.
It is the sixth time in a row that Salah scored a goal in the opening match of Liverpool,
The last ten minutes did not witness any danger to the two teams’ goals, with the exception of Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson’s shot against the crossbar, in the last seconds, to leave each team with one point.
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