Salah returns and shutters Manchester City’s hopes

The two clubs met in the second leg of the clash where Manchester City were hopeful of not cutting down the 3-0 deficit from the first but also to turn around the tie into their favor and qualify to the next round. People were interested in finding out if Salah was going to start the match or not after picking up a groin injury in the first leg of this clash. It was a relief for the Liverpool fans when they heard that their start man was available for contention. Pep Guardiola made changes to the team that played the away leg as he introduced Raheem Sterling and Laporte back to the squad ahead of Gundogan and Kompany. The shocking omission was Aguero who was benched for Jesus in an attacking team filled with pacey forwards. The match kicked off with high expectations on both teams to produce an amazing performance.  Manchester City was off to a good start as they dispossessed Van Dijk and Sterling fed Jesus to score the first. It was 1-0 after 3 minutes and Liverpool were definitely parking. Manchester City dominated the first half and created many chances that should have hit the back of the net. Bernardo Silva hit the post once and Sane put the ball into the net but the ball was controversially ruled offside. City really felt hard done in a match that was intense and saw the referee producing about 5 yellow cards and saw Pep Guardiola being sent to the stands for his outrageous reaction at half-time. Arteta was under pressure as he was the man-in charge and Liverpool scored an equalizer through Salah after Mane’s brilliant run. The Manchester club had a mountain to climb as they needed to score 4 more goals to qualify. Aguero was introduced at the expense of David Silva but the damage was done. The match ended 2-1 to Liverpool after Firmino scored the second on the 77th minute which means that Liverpool are through to the semifinals with a 5-1 aggregate score. The Egyptian has once again made the difference in a big match as he scored a killer blow. It has been a while since Africa had a player that would contend for the Ballon d’Or. Mo Salah is a contender this year. What’s your take?

In other news, Barcelona were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League after losing 3-0 to Roma away from home. Roma had scored an away goal in their first leg where they lost 4-1. The scorers on this day were De Rossi, Dzeko and Manolas. Roma had enough to eliminate Barcelona by overturning a 3-0 deficit for the first time in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

The young defender does not mind the increased competition

England International Joe Gomez continues his development after joining the first team fold at his club last year. The defender sees himself as a sponge who is learning a lot from the experienced Virgil Van Dijk who joined the club in a record deal. Some questions were being raised about his future and what this meant for Gomez but he has since proved that he is still important as he has filled in for the injured Clyne in the right-back position. Van Dijk’s move might have slowed the young player’s progress as a central defender but the player sees this as an opportunity to learn from the world’s most expensive defender. He commends the experienced player’s presence and quality on the ball. That is something he hopes will rub onto himself after an impressive season which has resulted in him being called to represent his country England in the friendlies against Netherlands and Italy.