Mohamed Salah ignored the Saudi Arabian spotlight focused on him with a goal and an impressive all-round performance in Liverpool’s comfortable 3-0 Premier League rout of Aston Villa which showed his commitment and desire has not wavered.
A rejected £150million bid from Al-Ittihad on Friday merely sparked reports the Pro League champions would return with a world-record offer – with their transfer window open until Thursday – but while the speculation continues, the Egypt international got on with what he is good at.
This was his 188th goal in 308 appearances, 139th in 222 Premier League matches, his seventh in seven games against Villa and the 150th different game in which he had found the target.
His close-range poacher’s finish at a corner made the result safe but even with the game won inside an hour, he was still chasing lost causes on an afternoon when scorching temperatures inside Anfield resembled Saudi Arabia on one of its cooler days.
But while Salah provided the killer blow with the third goal, the architect of the victory was Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose corner saw Dominki Szoboszlai open the scoring with his first goal for the club and then a clever whipped pass over the top released Salah – which ultimately resulted in a Matty Cash own goal.
However, the sight of him limping off and straight down the tunnel with 20 minutes to go will be of some concern as manager Jurgen Klopp has no one else who can do what he currently does.
Klopp himself marked his 300th Premier League match with his 188th victory, losing just 43, but as he stressed in his programme notes when urging fans not to sing his song until after the final whistle, the focus was on the players.
This was only the second of seven league matches Liverpool had won without Virgil Van Dijk, currently suspended, but wearing the armband in his place, local lad Alexander-Arnold led by example.
However, even he could not have anticipated his third-minute corner reaching Szoboszlai untouched by anyone but the Hungary captain, who arrived from RB Leipzig with a reputation for scoring from distance, made sure the right-back got full value for his delivery.
As the ball dropped to him on the edge of the box the 22-year-old hit a sweet, controlled left-footed shot which, on its way back also evaded the crowd to nestle inside the returning Emi Martinez’s left-hand post.
Alexander-Arnold was the instigator of Liverpool’s second but it was the helping hand from Salah, for whom the Kop sang their first song in the 10th minute, chasing his brilliant pass with greater determination than Pau Torres which presented the chance for Nunez.
The Uruguay international scuffed a shot against the post but the rebound went in off the unfortunate Cash.
Liverpool’s right-back-cum-playmaker should have had another assist when he opted to cross a free-kick in prime shooting territory only to find the worst possible option in Joel Matip, whose free header never even threatened the target.
Villa – who lost Diego Carlos to injury midway through the first half – saw John McGinn and substitute Leon Bailey (twice) miss their best chances but the final 20 minutes of the first half was played in a bizarre atmosphere with the visitors sitting off, Liverpool at walking pace and the crowd subdued.
Nunez can always be relied upon to liven things up though and he smashed a shot against the crossbar from the narrowest of angles after the offside Salah’s clever decision not to chase Alexander-Arnold’s ball over the top.
Early in the second half, Alisson Becker parried away Cash’s close-range header on the line before Salah broke down the right, leaving the collapsing Lucas Digne in his wake, to produce a sublime outside-of-the-left-foot cross to the far post – which Nunez somehow managed to bundle wide.
But Salah was not to be denied and from Andy Roberton’s 55th-minute corner, Nunez flicked on the ball to the far post for the Egyptian to blast home from close range for the biggest cheer of the day.
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Darmstadt: Reus stars in farewell game
Marco Reus scored and assisted in his final Bundesliga game for Borussia Dortmund as they thrashed already-relegated Darmstadt 4-0.
The German teed up Ian Maatsen for the opener on the half-hour mark before scoring a stunning free-kick eight minutes later to put Dortmund in control.
Donyell Malen scored his 13th goal of the season to round things off after substitute Julian Brandt had latched onto Jadon Sancho's ball for a third.
Dortmund could have had more as Reus, Malen and Marcel Sabitzer struck the woodwork in either half, but it did not matter as Darmstadt struggled to show a threat.
Edin Terzic's side finished fifth in the final Champions League spot, while Darmstadt are relegated as the bottom club.
Data Debrief:
Reus has been directly involved in 251 goals in the Bundesliga (156G 95A in 391 games), making him just the third player to reach 250 goals and assists since his Bundesliga debut in August 2009, behind Thomas Müller 318 and Robert Lewandowski 367.
The German bids farewell to Signal Iduna Park having scored nine goals and assisting seven in all competitions this season, though he will be hoping to add to that tally in his final match for Dortmund - the Champions League final against Real Madrid on June 1.
Chelsea edge out Man City to claim fifth straight WSL title with thumping win at Old Trafford
Mayra Ramirez turned in a stellar performance to propel Chelsea to the WSL title in Emma Hayes' final match in charge as the Blues thrashed Manchester United 6-0.
Earlier in May, Hayes – who is ending a 12-year stint in charge of the Blues to become the United States coach – had all but given up on claiming a fifth straight WSL crown.
Yet Chelsea's 8-0 victory over Bristol City two weeks ago, combined with Manchester City's defeat to Arsenal, opened the door, and after beating Tottenham in midweek, the Blues knew a win, while maintaining their positive goal difference, would be enough.
And they made sure there was no room for error with an incredible first-half display inspired by Ramirez, who scored twice and set up goals for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sjoeke Nusken at Old Trafford.
Melanie Leupolz got in on the act early in the second half as Chelsea's celebrations began in earnest, with Fran Kirby netting late on to complete the rout on her farewell appearance.
Ultimately, City – likely deflated by the news coming from Old Trafford – held up their end of the bargain, but shorn of top goalscorer Khadija Shaw, Gareth Taylor's team could only beat Aston Villa 2-1.
City were constantly chasing their title rivals, with Ramirez and Rytting Kaneryd putting Chelsea 2-0 up at United inside eight minutes.
Mary Fowler nudged City ahead at Villa Park, though when Taylor's team went in at the interval, they will have seen additional goals from record signing Ramirez and Nusken had all but sewn up the title for Chelsea already.
Leupolz has scored her first WSL goal in over two years to add further gloss for Chelsea when they came back out from the restart in Manchester, and City were then hit by a further blow when Rachel Daly equalised for Villa.
Lauren Hemp, who had assisted Fowler's opener, restored City's lead, though it was never going to be enough, with Kirby's farewell goal ensuring Chelsea finished with a goal difference of 53 compared to their rivals' 46.
Chelsea are now unbeaten across their last nine WSL games that have come on the final day of the season, while the Blues are now nine WSL matches without loss against United, having won eight of those fixtures.
Hoffenheim 4-2 Bayern Munich: Tuchel bows out on defeat thanks to Kramaric hat-trick
Bayern Munich squandered a two-goal lead to slump to a 4-2 loss at Hoffenheim courtesy of a second-half Andrej Kramaric hat-trick in Thomas Tuchel's final game.
Early goals from Mathys Tel and Alphonso Davies saw the injury-depleted Bavarians go 2-0 up by the sixth minute.
Hoffenheim, however, pulled a goal back through Germany international Maximilian Beier just two minutes later, with the hosts gradually taking some of the early pace out of the game.
Bayern's injury troubles were further compounded when they lost Aleksandar Pavlovic to injury in the 35th minute, and struggled to cope with Hoffenheim's threat in the second half.
Kramaric then delivered a stunning 19-minute hat-trick with the Bayern defence in ruins, ending a disappointing season in third place with 72 points.
Bayer Leverkusen finished in top spot on 90 points. VfB Stuttgart finished runners-up on 73 with a 4-0 demolition of Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Hoffenheim finished seventh, in the Europa Conference League place.
Data Debrief:
Thomas Muller made his 473rd Bundesliga appearance for Bayern on Saturday, drawing level with Sepp Maier as the club's record appearance maker in the competition.
Bayern failed to have a single shot on target in the second half, while Kramaric ran riot to subject Bayern to their worst league finish since 2011.
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