Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota hit doubles in 6-1 rout
Cody Gakpo scored Cody Klopp’s team’s opening goal with their first shot on goal, converting Trent Alexander-Arnold’s low cross for his fifth Premier League goal. In the lead-up, handball claims against the England full-back went unpunished.
After Weston McKennie lost control and Jota led Liverpool forward on the counterattack, Salah made it two goals in as many minutes by firing superbly past Illan Meslier at his near post.
Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota hit doubles in 6-1 rout
In the 47th minute, Luis Sinisterra capitalized on a terrible error by Ibrahima Konate, but Javi Gracia’s team’s newfound optimism was dashed when Curtis Jones set up Jota for his first goal in a year, making it 3-1.
After Andy Robertson raced down the left wing and Jota rammed in the fifth, there were boos from the home crowd. Salah was then set up by Gakpo for his 15th Premier League goal of the season.
Darwin Nunez, a substitute, finished off the onslaught by breaking the Leeds offside trap and delivering Alexander-Arnold’s chipped pass.
Why wasn’t Liverpool’s first goal against Leeds disallowed for handball?
After Leeds’ latest display of defensive incompetence, it’s hard to argue the result would have been drastically different with any conviction. But the opening goal was a controversial moment. Junior Firpo, who endured another accident-prone outing at left-back for Leeds, kicked the ball into Alexander-Arnold. The Liverpool right-back could not really get out of the way, although his arm moved towards the ball.
It seemed like the kind of situation that would stand out more in slow-motion replays. After reviewing the event, VAR authorities decided that it occurred too late in the play – Alexander-Arnold recovered control from Salah before crossing for Gakpo to score — to be recognized as directly causing the goal. The choice might have been different if Gakpo had scored immediately after the ball struck Alexander-Arnold’s hand, for instance.
As things were, the video assistants had to decide whether Alexander-Arnold had intentionally interfered with play or if referee Simon Hooper had made a clear and obvious mistake. Both of those requirements were not fulfilled.
Leeds vs Liverpool final score
| final score | |
| Leeds | 1 |
| Liverpool | 6 |
Goals:
LIV — Cody Gakpo (Trent Alexander-Arnold) — 35th minute.
LIV — Mohamed Salah (Diogo Jota) — 39th minute.
LEE — Luis Sinisterra — 47th minute.
LIV — Diogo Jota (Curtis Jones) — 52nd minute.
LIV — Mohamed Salah (Cody Gakpo) — 63rd minute.
LIV — Diogo Jota (Jordan Henderson) — 73rd minute.
LIV — Darwin Nunez (Trent Alexander-Arnold) — 90th minute.
Lineups:
Leeds (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1-Illan Meslier (GK) — 25-Rasmus Kristensen, 5-Robin Koch, 21-Pascal Struijk, 3-Junior Firpo — 28-Weston McKennie, 8-Marc Roca — 7-Brenden Aaronson (10-Crysencio Summerville), 23-Luis Sinisterra (4-Adam Forshaw), 11-Jack Harrison (29-Wilfried Gnonto) — 19-Rodrigo Moreno (24-Georginio Rutter)
Liverpool (4-3-3, right to left): 1-Alisson (GK) — 66-Trent Alexander-Arnold, 5-Ibrahima Konate, 4-Virgil van Dijk, 26-Andy Robertson — 3-Fabinho, 14-Jordan Henderson (7-James Milner), 17-Curtis Jones — 11-Mohamed Salah (27-Darwin Nunez), 18-Cody Gakpo (23-Luis Diaz), 20-Diogo Jota (9-Roberto Firmino)
