Sports

Klopp Shocked As Liverpool Concede Seven Goals at Aston Villa

Published

6 years ago

October 5, 2020

Eric

Jurgen Klopp admitted his surprise at Liverpool’s stunning collapse to lose 7-2 at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Ollie Watkins scored a first-half hat-trick as the Reds became the first reigning English champions to concede seven goals in a league match since 1953.

“It was unexpected but it happened tonight,” said Klopp. “We put all our rubbish things and mistakes in one game and hopefully we can start again.”

Liverpool’s high line was torn apart by Villa’s counter-attack, while the absence of goalkeeper Alisson Becker to injury and Sadio Mane due to a positive coronavirus test was notable.

The Reds were not beaten until their 28th league game in romping to the title last season and had won their opening three games of the new campaign.

Alisson’s absence made a telling impact after just four minutes to get Villa in front as Adrian’s poor pass was seized upon by Jack Grealish, who squared for Watkins to score his first Premier League goal.

“The first goal had an impact, but it shouldn’t,” added Klopp. “Adrian made a mistake but we conceded goals like this in the past. We lost the plot then.”

Despite a two-week layoff until they play again, Klopp has little time to make corrections on the training field with most of his squad away on international duty.

On their return, Liverpool travel to top-of-the-table Everton, who will be looking to win a Merseyside derby for the first time in a decade.

“I would love to have a training session tomorrow and Tuesday and to talk about it, but the boys go back off to international duty,” said Klopp. “Hopefully they come back healthy and we use the two days to prepare for Everton.”

‘Wow’
Grealish was again the creator for Watkins’ second with a long ball down the side of the Liverpool defence and the former Brentford striker cut inside before blasting into the top corner.

Mohamed Salah seemed to have got the visitors a foothold back in the match when he slammed home on his trusty left-foot.

But Villa quickly restored their two-goal cushion when John McGinn’s effort from the edge of the area deflected in off Virgil van Dijk.

Liverpool’s high line was being caught out even from set plays as six minutes before the break Trezeguet broke the offside trap to cross for Watkins to become the first player in a decade to score a hat-trick against Liverpool.

“When Jurgen Klopp says ‘wow’ to you you know you’ve done something right,” said Villa boss Dean Smith. “The lads were superb, they executed the game plan perfectly. We were at our best today.”

Fortune favoured Villa’s desire not to just sit on their lead after the break as Ross Barkley’s long-range effort looped over the helpless Adrian to make it 5-1.

Salah remained razor sharp in front of goal to move one away from 100 for Liverpool with a brilliant finish from Roberto Firmino’s pass.

Klopp moved midfielder Firmino into his back four early in the second-half, but it did nothing to stem the flow of Villa attacks cutting through his defence.

Grealish completed a hat-trick of deflected goals when his shot hit Fabinho to wrong-foot Adrian again.

Watkins missed two huge chances to score his fourth as Adrian saved a one-on-one before he hit the crossbar.

Grealish, though, was more clinical when he raced through to round off a remarkable victory.

Villa stayed up by a single point on the final day of last season, but they have now won their opening three games of the new league campaign to move up to second.

“We won’t get complacent but we’ll enjoy tonight because results like that don’t come around too often,” added Smith.

Sports

Luka Modric’s World Cup Story Ends, Cristiano Ronaldo Gets Lifeline

Published

1 day ago

July 3, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

It was an emotional encounter as two of world’s best footballers; Luca Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo squared against each other in a bid to lay their hands on the coveted World Cup trophy when Portugal met Croatia in the round of 32. But after about 97minutes of play time, the World Cup story of Modric came to am abrupt end while Ronaldo gets a lifeline, proceeding to the Round of 16.

Both Ronaldo and Modric are not likely to feature in another World Cup tournament.

Portugal battled into the last 16 of the World Cup with a drama-filled 2-1 victory over Croatia on Thursday to set up a titanic showdown with European champions Spain.

In another nerve-shredding World Cup classic, Goncalo Ramos headed Portugal into the lead in the fourth minute of stoppage time before Croatia saw a last-gasp equaliser agonisingly ruled out for offside in Toronto.

Portugal’s 41-year-old superstar captain Cristiano Ronaldo had helped haul his team back into the contest, burying a 68th-minute penalty to cancel out Croatia’s 53rd-minute opener from Ivan Perisic.

Ronaldo later joined frenzied celebrations after Ramos glanced home a sensational header deep into injury time to give Portugal the lead.

But Ronaldo and his Portugal team-mates were left stunned when Josko Gvardiol prodded home an apparent equaliser in stoppage time.

Yet there was one final twist when the goal was chalked off for offside after a lengthy VAR review to the disbelief of Croatia’s players and their large contingent of fans at Toronto’s BMO Field.

After the final whistle, an emotional Ronaldo held up and pulled on a Portugal shirt bearing the number 21, a tribute to late team-mate Diogo Jota, the Liverpool star who tragically died in a car crash almost a year to the day from Thursday’s win, on July 3 last year.

“We knew it before the game. It was a so special moment. We speak today, our group, about that, the coincidence of life, it’s unbelievable,” Ronaldo said afterwards of the tribute to Jota.

“I was amazed because the situation of today. It means a lot to us, not only because we won the game, but the also the way we won the game. It was a difficult game, we knew it.”

The result ensures that Ronaldo’s incredible World Cup career will be extended for at least one more match when the Portuguese face Iberian rivals Spain in the last 16 in Dallas on Monday.

Ronaldo’s second-half penalty made him the oldest man to score in a World Cup knockout match.

Spain romp past Austria

Spain had advanced to that meeting with a scintillating 3-0 win over Austria in Los Angeles earlier Friday that confirmed their status as one of the favourites for the title.

Two goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and a Pedro Porro header sealed victory for the Spaniards, who produced their most complete performance of the tournament to advance to the next round.

Spain opened their World Cup campaign with a faltering 0-0 draw against Cape Verde, but have subsequently built momentum with each match.

AFP

Sports

Ronaldo Celebrates Saudi Pro League Win with Al-Nassr

Published

1 month ago

May 22, 2026

Eric

Al Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, has finally won the Saudi Pro League title.

They were confirmed champions on Thursday, thanks to a 4-2 drubbing of relegation battlers, Damac.

The title race had gone down to the final day after Al-Nassr dramatically dropped points against Al-Hilal the previous week.

Jorge Jesus’ side knew there could be no mistakes against a Damac side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.

Ronaldo was on the scoresheet, as his brace helped Al Nassr secure the title ahead of rivals Al Hilal.

Sports

FIFA Lists Six Females Among 52 Referees for 2026 World Cup

Published

3 months ago

April 10, 2026

Eric

FIFA on Thursday unveiled its list of match officials for the June 11-July 19 World Cup, including 52 referees, six of whom are women.

Football’s governing body will also take 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials, who hail from all six confederations and 50 member associations.

“The selected match officials are the very best in the world,” said Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s chief refereeing officer.

“They were part of a wider pool of officials that was identified and monitored over the past three years. They have attended seminars and officiated at FIFA tournaments.

“In addition, their performances in domestic and international matches were regularly assessed.”

The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the biggest in history, with a 48-team line-up and 104 matches to be played.

There are 41 more match officials than at Qatar four years ago, where 32 teams played 64 matches.

“The fact that six women match officials have been selected continues a trend that was started four years ago in Qatar as we aim to further develop women’s refereeing,” Collina said, with six women having already refereed in 2022.

AFP