Goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez powered Liverpool to secure a 3-1 win over Manchester City and lift the FA Community Shield on Saturday.
The Community Shield, which is considered as the curtain-raiser to the new season, was contested at Leicester City’s home ground, the King Power stadium, this time around.
Arnold opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 21st minute of the game. Thiago Alcantara floated a ball to Salah, who laid it to the English right-back whose shot went into the far corner.
Manchester City’s new signing, Erling Haaland, had a day to forget as the Norwegian striker missed many key chances as Pep Guardiola’s team looked off colour.
However, in the 70th minute, another new City signing, Julian Alvarez, levelled things up as he pounced on a loose ball after Liverpool keeper Adrian had pushed away a shot from Phil Foden. The goal was initially ruled out for offside. But on further investigation by VAR, the on-field decision was overturned and the scores were level.
In the 83rd minute, VAR came into play once again and this time it was in favour of Liverpool. Referee Craig Pawson was called up to the pitch side monitor where he saw that Ruben Dias had handled Nunez’ header inside the box. Salah slotted home the penalty to restore the lead for the Reds.
Nunez capped off a good individual performance for Liverpool as he nodded home a ball from Andy Robertson to secure the win for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Haaland’s day went from bad to worse as he missed a knife-edged chance to pull one back for City during stoppage time.
After the game, Arnold was full of praise for new boy Nunez. As quoted by Reuters, the right-back hailed the striker’s impact on the game and called him a top player.
“He won the penalty, scored a goal and looked very lively. He’s been bought in to score goals and he’s proved he can do that today.”
“He’s a top player, a young player who is willing to learn. He’s bonded well with the lads. He came on with a point to prove,” said Arnold.
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