Liverpool win again, City bounce back

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LIVERPOOL, England, Aug 21, (AP): Liverpool marked their first game in front of a capacity crowd at Anfield in nearly 18 months by beating Burnley 2-0 on Saturday, with goals by Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane earning their team a second straight win to open the season. Jota, who scored the first goal in Liverpool’s 3-0 victory at Norwich last weekend, glanced in a header off a cross by left back Konstantinos Tsimikas in the 18th minute in front of The Kop. Mane struck home a powerful, low shot from a central position from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deft pass in the 69th. Since the last time there was a full house at Anfield – in March 2020 – Liverpool have won the league title for the first time in 30 years and relinquished it to Manchester City. So there was something of a party atmosphere for what ended up being a routine win against Burnley, which had claimed a shock victory in the same fixture last season to end Liverpool’s 68-game unbeaten run at Anfield in the league. Tsimikas is set to lose his place in the team, with Andrew Robertson returning to fitness after a minor ankle ligament injury. The Greek defender’s parting gift was an assist from a pinpoint delivery into the penalty box, where Jota got in front of Burnley center back Ben Mee and guided a header low past goalkeeper Nick Pope.

City 5, Norwich 0
Jack Grealish scored his first goal since a British-record $139 million move to Manchester City in a 5-0 win over Norwich , helping the champions earn the first points of their Premier League title defense. The ball defl ected in off the inside of the England midfielder’s left leg from close range after a driven cross by Gabriel Jesus fl ew across the face of the six-yard box. That 22nd-minute goal made it 2-0 for City, which went ahead via an owngoal by Tim Krul when an attempted clearance by Norwich defender Grant Hanley smashed unwittingly into the goalkeeper following a cross by Jesus. Aymeric Laporte and substitutes Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez added further goals after halftime, continuing Norwich’s tough start to its return to the top fl ight after a 3-0 loss to Liverpool last weekend. City bounced back from a 1-0 loss at Tottenham in the opening round of the league season and Grealish is already looking like an integral member of Pep Guardiola’s team

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