Mohamed Salah scored for the sixth year in a row in the opening round of the season and it has not yet happened that he started a season without shaking the net in the first round, but yesterday (Saturday) it did not help Liverpool – who surprisingly dropped the first points precisely against the newcomer, Fulham, whose side was very impressive in the 2:2 in London.
Manor Solomon came off the bench to make his debut for the Cottagers and in the Premier League right after Fulham conceded an equalizing goal, but provided an immediate contribution when he picked up a ball and released a deep pass to Aleksandar Mitrovic with a touch that ended in a penalty and returned to the lead 1:2. Towards the end, Salah arrived and made it 2:2, but there is no doubt that it was a justified distribution of points.
As for Solomon, who changed shirts at the end with Trent Alexander Arnold, in the Kingdom they were certainly impressed by his first touch of the ball and as evidenced by a pass to Mitrovic that ended in the penalty kick, but they also noted that he was rusty and far from playing form – and this despite only coming off the bench in the middle of the second half. Still, he struggled on the wing against Alexander Arnold and of course Salah. Even on social networks, the opinions about him among Fulham fans were divided: “He contributed nothing beyond the move in which Mitrovic abused Van Dijk, but apparently he has football in his feet.”
On the other hand, this morning in Liverpool they tried to understand how they stumbled in this way against Fulham, a week after an impressive 1:3 against Manchester City in the community shield, and the one who was placed in the spotlight was the right defender Trent Alexander Arnold who had a very big part in the first goal: “He didn’t at all Jumped for the ball against Mitrovic, he even shrinks and is not at all aware that behind him is a striker in a certain position to conquer,” commentator Robbie Musto claimed. Even former striker Peter Crouch did not spare his criticism: “Trent simply couldn’t handle Teta’s pass to Mitrovic, he must be stronger and at least get on the ball to make it difficult for the opponent.”
Virgil van Dijk, who boasts of figures that are rarely surpassed, was “humiliated” yesterday by Mitrovic, who repeatedly succeeded in beating him and his friends, with the highlight being the penalty kick in the second half: “Mitro turned him into ‘One Disney,’ he did He was a laughingstock the whole game,” Fulham fans wrote on social media, “Metro just took him for a walk.”
On the other hand, Liverpool will be comforted by the great performance of Darwin Nunes, the substitute. The acquired striker who arrived from Benfica for 100 million euros finished with a goal and an assist after coming in place of Roberto Firmino and Crouch could not understand why he did not start in the team: “A player who scored goals in the preparatory games and in the community shield and did not start? If I were in his place I would be furious.”
Klopp tried to explain why Nunes has not yet been able to start in the team: “We have several options in attack. With ‘Bobby’ we have a player who can hold the ball at his feet and with Darwin we have a striker who plays for speed and power. I preferred to start with ‘Bobby’.”