Second-half goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah gave new Liverpool coach Arne Slot a 2-0 winning start to his reign in the Premier League against newly-promoted Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Ipswich, cheered on from the Portman Road stands by new minority shareholder and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, battled hard with Liverpool in the first half but failed to take their chances when they arrived.
Slaught’s new side improved significantly after the break and took the lead through Jota on the hour mark, before Egyptian forward Salah finished off a superb move five minutes later to effectively end Ipswich’s challenge.
Liverpool had several opportunities to make the result even more impressive, but the two goals were enough to take Liverpool and slot past a difficult first game of the campaign.
“Hopefully I can continue playing like this all season,” Salah told TNT Sports. “I always try to help the team, I’m always happy to score a goal or make an assist.
“It’s quite different for all of us (playing under the slot), we need to adapt. We just need to get to know their way of playing and enjoy football. We don’t need to put too much pressure on them, we just need to play football and enjoy our game.”
In January, Jurgen Klopp shocked the world when he announced he would step down as Liverpool manager at the end of last season, with the German saying goodbye to an emotional Anfield on the final day of the campaign.
The man who faces the tough task of replacing Klopp is former Feyenoord coach Slot, who won the Champions League while in England and ended Liverpool’s 30-year wait for a league title.
Some supporters were concerned in pre-season, as Liverpool had yet to sign a single player during the close-season transfer window while their rivals were spending money. Their side’s first-half performance in the Suffolk sun, where the visitors failed to have a single shot on target, added to their concerns.
However, Sloot’s side picked up the pace after the break and hit back at their opponents with two superb goals, the first coming from Jota after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s precise pass freed Salah before he could score for the Portuguese player.
With Ipswich still regrouping, Salah, making his 350th appearance in all competitions for the club, made sure of the win with a superb goal after being played in by Dominik Szoboszlai. The 32-year-old now has more goals than anyone else in the opening round of a Premier League season, and he looks set to play a major role in Liverpool’s title triumph this season.