Dominik Szoboszlai scored his first goal for Liverpool and Mohamed Salah netted his seventh in seven games against Aston Villa as the hosts eased to a 3-0 Premier League victory at Anfield on Sunday.
Juergen Klopp’s side, who have won 10 of their last 12 matches against Villa, climbed to third in the table on 10 points from four games. Villa have six points.
“We did quite OK, quick to 2-0 and came out good and scored a goal in the second half too,” Szoboszlai told the BBC.
Two days after Liverpool reportedly rejected a £150m bid for Salah by South Arabian club Al-Ittihad, the Reds talisman netted goal number 188 of his Liverpool career with a toe poke at the back post in the 55th minute off Darwin Nunez’s headed flick from a corner.
“You know it is football everyone is talking,” Szoboszlai said on Salah’s future. “We are really happy that he has stayed. We are of course speaking between each other but he wants to stay, he wants to be here and be with us. We are really happy — we need people in the team like him.”
Klopp, who managed his 300th Liverpool game on Sunday, shot down rumours around Salah’s departure before kick-off.
“This was a media story and it never came true,” the German manager told Sky Sports. “I have a big desk in my office with a lot of papers are on there, I have a laptop, iPad, everything that you need and none of them are busy with this kind of news.”
Szoboszlai had given Liverpool a dream start with a left-footed half-volley from the edge of the 18-yard box after three minutes.
“It is a special moment,” said the Hungarian, who arrived from Leipzig over the summer. “If you score your first goal for Liverpool at Anfield it is always special. I am looking forward to getting even more.”
Liverpool doubled their lead when Nunez’s firm shot hit the post and rebounded into the net off Villa defender Matty Cash.
Liverpool never let up, helped by a surprisingly sloppy performance from Villa, who are now winless in their last six league visits to Anfield.
Nunez had a couple of scoring including one moments before halftime that hit the woodwork, and Trent Alexander-Arnold gave a master class in midfield before limping off with a potential injury in the second half, receiving a hug from Klopp on his way.
Edouard’s brace
French forward Odsonne Edouard struck twice and Eberechi Eze netted from a fine solo effort in an action-packed second half to power Crystal Palace to a 3-2 home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“You can see how good he is,” Eze said of Edouard, who scored just five goals in 35 league appearances last season.
Palace scored the opener in the 56th minute as Tyrick Mitchell raced down the left and played a perfectly-weighted pass across the face of the goal for Edouard to poke home. olves levelled through substitute Hwang Hee-chan’s well-directed header from a set piece in the 65th minute.
Palace found the breakthrough in the 78th when Eze showed great individual skill to control a Jean-Philippe Mateta pass with a backheel flick before stabbing his shot past Sa.
The hosts put the contest beyond doubt when Edouard played a one-two with Mateta to breeze through Wolves’ tired defence and tuck away a cool finish, before Matheus Cunha scored a consolation goal for the visitors six minutes into added time.
Reuters
