Football

Liverpool blip now becomes something deeper

The sight of the downcast and dejected Mohamed Salah trudging off as Liverpool desperately chased an equaliser against Manchester United was an ominous symbol of their current struggles.

If there was one player in recent Anfield history who would be backed to conjure up a match-saving moment of magic it is ‘The Egyptian King’, the spearhead of all Liverpool’s recent successes.

And yet there was Salah, replaced by Jeremie Frimpong moments after Harry Maguire had headed what proved to be Manchester United’s 84th-minute winner in a 2-1 triumph, their first at Anfield for more than a decade.

It inflicted Liverpool’s fourth successive loss, their worst sequence of results since 2014 under Brendan Rodgers, as what was portrayed as a blip now becomes something deeper when placed alongside the previous sky-high standards set under head coach Arne Slot in his triumphant first title-winning season.

“If you lose four times in a row, you need to be concerned,” Slot told Match of the Day. “We know how it works in football.

“If we keep bringing in these performances we will have a fair chance of winning more football games. Losing four times in a row definitely does something with the team.”

If they lose for the fifth time in a row to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday, it would be the first time Liverpool have suffered this fate since September 1953.

Liverpool even felt the frustrations of their own supporters on occasions, when build-up was ponderous and they looked short of ideas to penetrate United’s unyielding defence.

There were moments of ill-luck against United, Cody Gakpo striking the woodwork three times before equalising in the 78th minute.

Salah slashed unconvincingly at a golden opportunity, underlining the 33-year-old’s current lack of form and confidence, extending his run without scoring a non-penalty goal to seven games.

Doubting world-class players is always a dangerous occupation, but Salah has looked out of sorts this season, left out of the Champions League defeat by Galatasaray in Istanbul, then being substituted here with Liverpool trying to rescue a point.

Liverpool are currently a shadow of the efficient machine that strolled the Premier League last season, having looked vulnerable since day one this season in a Community Shield defeat by Crystal Palace at Wembley.

They are riddled with flaws, remarkable given the fact Slot was handed almost £450m to strengthen the newly-crowned champions.

And amid all the understanding that even stellar names signed in record-breaking deals such as £116m for Florian Wirtz and £125m for Alexander Isak require a settling-in period, the bottom line is that neither have produced anything near enough.

Isak was anonymous again, having been chosen ahead of the much livelier Hugo Ekitike, while Wirtz once again had to be content with coming off the bench.

Their proven quality will make Liverpool optimistic their massive outlay will be rewarded, but their contribution so far, at a combined cost of £241m, has not stretched far beyond non-existent.

“Arne Slot has a couple of decisions to make,” former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock told 5 Live.

“Szobozslai looks like the better right-back and suits going into midfield from that position, but does he like being there? No, but for the good of the team it would work better.

“Then Frimpong comes on down the right and has more of an influence in 10 minutes or so than Salah in most of the game. He put two exceptional balls into the box, and Gakpo should have scored from one of them. Ekitike did more when he came on up top than Isak did too.”

For a team that carried an air of calm laced with deadly threat last season, Liverpool now give off an air of chaos and a lack of organisation, especially in their defensive work.

Milos Kerkez struggled badly again, almost scoring an unwitting own goal with a rebound off his face in the second half, which would have summed up Liverpool’s defending.

The debate will continue about whether referee Michael Oliver should have stopped play when Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister lay prone nursing a head injury, inflicted accidentally by captain Virgil van Dijk’s elbow.

Instead, the game continued, Bryam Mbeumo taking advantage of Van Dijk reacting slowly to recover his position, finishing smartly past Liverpool’s deputy keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

The lack of organisation is reflected in the statistic that Liverpool have conceded five goals resulting from set pieces in eight Premier League games this season. They did not concede any goals in that manner in the same number of matches at the start of last season.

Liverpool are open to counter-attacks at pace, while balls played in behind have presented problems all season.

It all adds up to the position Liverpool find themselves in, dropping to fourth in the table, four points behind leaders Arsenal.

Liverpool have too much quality to stay in the slump for long, but Slot has problems to solve, needing to get those misfiring superstars up and running while curing the problems that have been exposed this season.

“It’s an interesting time now, we have to stick together,” captain Van Dijk said after the game.

“We need to stay humble and stay working. When things get tough, it is important we keep the mentality of being there for each other. It is a long season.”

Football

Senegal beat Morocco to emerge Afcon champions

Senegal struck in extra time to shock hosts Morocco and win the Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat on Sunday, sealing a dramatic 1-0 victory in a final overshadowed by chaotic scenes and a controversial penalty decision.

Pape Gueye proved the match-winner, scoring early in extra time after Morocco had missed a golden opportunity to take the lead deep into stoppage time. In the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time, Brahim Diaz stepped up to take a penalty that could have secured the trophy for the hosts, but the Real Madrid winger weakly chipped his effort and was comfortably denied by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

The spot-kick was awarded by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala following a lengthy VAR review for a challenge by El Hadji Malick Diouf on Diaz. The decision sparked furious protests from Senegal’s players and supporters, especially after a Senegal goal had earlier been disallowed for a foul. As tensions boiled over, some Senegal fans threw objects and attempted to enter the pitch before being restrained by police and stewards. Their anger quickly turned to jubilation when Mendy saved the penalty.

After surviving the scare, Senegal looked energised, and their breakthrough felt inevitable. Four minutes into extra time, Sadio Mane won possession in midfield and fed Idrissa Gana Gueye, who released Pape Gueye. The Villarreal midfielder powered past Achraf Hakimi and curled a superb strike into the top corner beyond Yassine Bounou.

Morocco were devastated, particularly Diaz, who was soon substituted. The hosts pushed for an equaliser and came close when Nayef Aguerd headed against the crossbar in the second half of extra time, but Senegal held firm. They might have made the win more comfortable had Cherif Ndiaye not missed a late chance to double the lead.

The defeat ended Morocco’s hopes of lifting the trophy on home soil and ending a 50-year wait for a second continental title. For Senegal, it marked their second Africa Cup of Nations triumph in the last three tournaments, following their penalty shoot-out win over Egypt in 2022.

Despite the dramatic finish, the final itself was a tense, low-scoring affair, reflecting the defensive quality of two of Africa’s top-ranked sides. Senegal’s Iliman Ndiaye and Morocco’s Ayoub El Kaabi both missed key chances before the late controversy and decisive goal.

Football

Morocco Advance to AFCON Final

Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was the hero with two saves in the shoot-out as hosts Morocco beat Nigeria 4-2 on penalties to set up an Africa Cup of Nations final showdown this weekend with Senegal after a tense last-four clash on Wednesday finished 0-0 at the end of extra time.

Bounou saved from Samuel Chukwueze and brilliantly from Bruno Onyemaechi, allowing Youssef En-Nesyri to convert the winning kick and spark wild celebrations among the 65,458 crowd inside the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

There was joy but also relief for Hamza Igamane, who had appeared distraught after his kick — Morocco’s second in the shoot-out — was saved by Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali.

He was the only Moroccan player to fail to score in the shoot-out, however, with captain and talisman Achraf Hakimi among those who converted their penalties.

Morocco will now play Senegal on Sunday for the title after the Lions of Teranga defeated Mohamed Salah’s Egypt 1-0 in the other semi-final earlier in Tangiers thanks to a Sadio Mane goal — that will be a clash between the top two African sides in the FIFA world rankings.

“It was one of the hardest matches we have had against a very solid and talented team,” said Morocco coach Walid Regragui, who played in the last Atlas Lions side to reach the final when they lost to Tunisia in 2004.

“I am very happy for the players and for the Moroccan people who really deserve this.

“It is a great gift for them to be in the final but we will need to recover quickly because we put a lot of energy into this game.”

Morocco have been under enormous pressure to deliver a first AFCON title for their country in half a century but will be confident of coming out on top against Senegal with their support behind them.

However, as their dream remains alive it is an agonising way for Nigeria’s hopes to end, two years after they lost the final to the hosts in Ivory Coast — they had been hoping to win a fourth Cup of Nations crown to match the tally of rivals Ghana.

Led by two recent winners of the African player of the year prize in Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, Nigeria had been arguably the best team at the tournament up to the semi-finals and the top scorers with 14 goals.

But they created next to nothing during the 120 minutes here and must settle for Saturday’s third-place play-off against Egypt in Casablanca before watching the World Cup from afar following their failure to qualify.

Hard to take for Super Eagles

“The players fought for every ball and it is difficult to lose on penalties, but this is football and we have to accept it,” said Nigeria coach Eric Chelle.

“It is difficult to play here in Morocco because you have to play against the team and against the crowd.”

Doubts about the Moroccan team’s ability to handle the enormous pressure of playing at home had dissipated following their win over Cameroon in the quarter-finals.

The 2022 World Cup semi-finalists had been whistled by their own fans at times during the group phase here, but this time those supporters did their bit by responding to any Nigerian spell of possession with deafening jeers.

A frenetic opening spell to the contest saw the Moroccan winger Brahim Diaz -– probably the tournament’s outstanding player -– curl a shot wide before Alex Iwobi teed up Lookman at the other end for a shot that was well saved.

Morocco had chances, including a free-kick from Hakimi and a shot from Ismael Saibari that was well saved by Nwabali.

However, the second half was more cagey and the clock ran down on normal time, while the spectre of penalties grew larger as the extra half-hour progressed.

It seemed Nigeria were settling for the shoot-out, even taking off Osimhen as they hoped to repeat their win on penalties in the 2024 semi-final against South Africa.

However, Morocco had also famously won on penalties against Spain at the last World Cup and they repeated the trick to reach the final of their Cup of Nations.

Football

Sadio Mane powers Senegal into final

Seven-time champions Egypt saw their Africa Cup of Nations campaign come to an end as Sadio Mane powered Senegal to a hard-fought win in their semi-final on Wednesday.

Al Nassr star Mane scored in the 78th minute of a tense clash in Tangiers.

Mohamed Salah has been in fine form this campaign netting four goals but could not stop Senegal from securing a spot in the final.

Senegal thus made it to their third Afcon final in the last four editions, while Salah’s dream of winning Afcon remained unfulfilled.

Senegal ⁠dominated most of the match with Egypt not having any shots at goal or even forcing a corner before they conceded.

Senegal found it tough to break down a resolute Egypt defence. They got the winner thanks to a lucky deflection ‍that set up Mane’s chance.

The first-half was a game of attrition with the only real chance coming in the 19th minute when Nicolas Jackson fired a shot from the edge of the box but his effort sailed over the crossbar.

Senegal suffered a setback when captain Kalidou Koulibaly suffered a groin injury midway through the first half but not before he had been booked for a foul on Omar Marmoush, which ruled him out of the final.

Senegal dominated possession and the Pharaohs eventually bucked under pressure.

In the 78th minute, Lamine Camara’s effort from the edge of the area was blocked but it fell to Mane nearby and he wasted no time striking just inside the post beyond Mohamed El Shenawy.

After Senegal scored, Egypt were pushed into action with three strikers ‍brought on in a late.

Substitute Ahmed Zizo’s shot in stoppage ⁠time, which ‌Edouard Mendy saved, was their only effort of substance.

Defeat ended Salah’s hopes of securing a ⁠first title with his national team. He had twice been a losing finalist at the Cup of Nations.

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