Mohamed Salah’s late equaliser earned Liverpool a 2-2 draw with rivals Arsenal in an entertaining Premier League encounter at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, as Gabriel Magalhaes limped off to add to the Gunners’ injury woes.

Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal the lead in the ninth minute when he ran on to Ben White’s ball over the top, cut inside Andy Robertson and fired past Caoimhin Kelleher at his near post for a 50th Premier League goal on his return from injury.

Virgil van Dijk, perhaps fortunate to avoid a card for a petulant kick at Kai Havertz in the opening exchanges, equalised nine minutes later, nodding home a Luis Diaz flick-on from a corner.

Arsenal responded positively and spurned several half-chances, with Saka hitting a shot over the bar and Havertz unable to control Gabriel Martinelli’s dangerous ball across the face of goal.

The home fans wanted a penalty just after the half-hour mark when Ibrahima Konate floored Martinelli with a clumsy challenge, but referee Anthony Taylor deemed he got enough of the ball, with Havertz slicing a volley over the top in the aftermath.

Mikel Merino scored his first Arsenal goal just before half-time, meeting Declan Rice’s free-kick with a bullet header that was upheld after a lengthy VAR review for offside.

Liverpool improved after the break and Diaz went close five minutes after the restart following a mazy run along the touchline.

Gabriel limped off early in the second half, replaced by Jakub Kiwior, as Arsenal sustained another injury to a key player.

The hosts had to withstand considerable periods of pressure, though they threatened on the counter as Liverpool left gaps at the back.

Salah levelled the game in the 81st minute with a calm tap-in from Darwin Nunez’s selfless cross, bringing the Egyptian winger level with Robbie Fowler on 163 career Premier League goals.

The momentum seemed to be with Liverpool to clinch a comeback victory but Arsenal had the ball in the net at the death through Havertz, though referee Anthony Taylor had already blown for a foul

The draw puts Liverpool second with 22 points from nine games, one point behind Manchester City, and Arsenal move into third with 18 points.

-Reuters

Jose Mourinho cheekily said he is looking to add a fourth Premier League medal to his glittering cabinet if Manchester City are stripped of their titles and rivals Manchester United are awarded the Premier League trophy for the 2017-18 season.

Mourinho, who won three titles with Chelsea, guided United to a second-place finish behind City in that campaign, 19 points behind Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking side.

City, who have won the English title a record four times in succession, were referred to an independent commission in February 2023, with the various charges dating from 2009 to 2018. They have always denied any wrongdoing.

Should City be found guilty of some or all of the charges they could face penalties or huge fines, points deductions, being stripped of their titles or even be demoted from the top flight.

“We won the Europa League and finished second in the Premier League. I think we still have a chance to win that league,” Fenerbahce boss Mourinho told reporters ahead of their Europa League clash against United.

“Maybe they punish Manchester City with points (deductions) and maybe we win that league. They have to pay me the bonus and give me the medal.”

Mourinho was the first manager since Alex Ferguson’s last season in 2012-13 to bring United the closest to winning the league title again but he was sacked in December 2018 after a poor run of form.

Ferguson is United’s most successful manager and although he is set to step down as a global ambassador after the club’s part-owners INEOS ended his multi-million pound contract, Mourinho said the 82-year-old did not need the position or the money.

“The ambassadorial role… I don’t know in depth the situation. It doesn’t matter why, what (happened). Sir Alex has the most important thing, which is the love and respect of every Man United fan around the world,” Mourinho said.

“That is more important than an ambassadorial role, it is more important than a few pounds that he can make that he doesn’t need.”

-Reuters

Jose Mourinho says struggling Manchester United “will succeed sooner or later” as the Fenerbahce boss prepares to take on his former club in the Europa League on Thursday.

United manager Erik ten Hag is under pressure after a poor start to the season, which has included draws in their first two European matches — against Twente and Porto.

But Mourinho, who has also managed a string of other high-profile clubs including Chelsea, Real Madrid and Tottenham, said United had potential and he wants them to succeed.

“Maybe you English guys think I’m bluffing, think I am playing mind games,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “I’m not playing anything — they have a better team than the results are showing.

“I studied them the maximum I could with my staff and my analysts. We watched everything in the Premier League, we watched everything in the two matches, Twente and Porto — there is work there.

“They will succeed sooner or later. Hopefully sooner and hopefully before one day I go back to the Premier League and they become my opponents.

“At this moment they are just my opponents for one match.”

‘I wish them the best’

Mourinho, who managed United between 2016 and 2018, winning the League Cup and Europa League, was asked why his former club had struggled over the past decade.

“Honestly, I didn’t lose one minute thinking about it,” he said. “I wish the best to Man Utd since the moment I left.

“I left with a good feeling for the club, with a good feeling for the fans and I want the best for them, so if things are not going amazingly well for them it’s not something that makes me happy, but at the same time I have no time.”

The 61-year-old suggested that during his own reign at Old Trafford, the United hierarchy had not had the same patience they were showing towards Ten Hag.

“What happened for sure, because it’s very objective, is that they kept faith with the coach, they support the coach, who is staying season after season and that means stability, means trust and they are giving him conditions to keep developing his job,” he said.

“That was a difference in relation to me because as you know we won the Europa League, we finished second in the Premier League.”

Mourinho, who was named as the new Fenerbahce coach in June following his sacking by Roma, said United would be at “maximum strength” for the match in Istanbul.

“One thing are the results that Manchester United are having and another thing is the potential of the team,” he said. “The potential of the team is high.”

He added: “If I have to say now which are the two biggest candidates to win the Europa League, I think it’s easy — Manchester United and Tottenham.

“The Premier League is a different level of quality, intensity, pace, tactical culture — a different level of everything.

“Tomorrow, I think we are going to play against one of the two strongest teams.”

-AFP