Arne Slot Pays Glowing Tribute to Diogo Jota After Liverpool’s Win: “I Was Looking for Him”
- Liverpool manager Arne Slot paid a glowing tribute to the late Diogo Jota after their opening day victory
- The Premier League champions began the defence of their title with a 4-2 win over AFC Bournemouth at Anfield
- Two late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah secured the victory after the Cherries fought back
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has paid a special tribute to the late Diogo Jota after the Reds began the new season with a 4-2 win over Bournemouth.
New signing Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring in the first half before Cody Gakpo doubled the advantage in the second minute of the second half.
Source: Getty Images
As noted by Sky Sports, Antoine Semenyo, who was racially abused, scored two brilliant goals to draw the visitors level and looked destined to pick up a point at Anfield.
Italian forward Federico Chiesa fired Liverpool ahead in the 88th minute, before Mohamed Salah scored his traditional opening day goal, his 10th and the most in Premier League history.
Arne Slot pays tribute to Diogo Jota
Anfield was beaming in tributes to Liverpool's beloved former star Diogo Jota, before, during and after the match.
Jota and his brother sadly died in a car accident in Zamora, Spain, on July 3, when he was on his way to catch a ferry to England to resume pre-season.
Arne Slot applauded the fans for how beautiful the tribute to Jota was and added that he didn't want to go into the game as he wanted it to continue.
“We’ve spoken for 5-6 minutes, but what we should speak about is how impressive and powerful the tribute was today,” he said as quoted by NBC Sports.
“I’ve been lucky enough to be here for a year, and I’ve heard ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ many times but the way it was sung today was so, so powerful, and the way, during the game our fans were incredible with the tribute they paid, but also the help they gave us.”
Jota was one of Liverpool's most reliable players since his move to Anfield in 2020, and the Dutch tactician admitted that he could have brought him on when the team needed goals in the second half.
Source: Getty Images
“I told the players afterwards how normally 20 minutes from the end, when it was 2-2, the first one I’d look at is Diogo. I was looking for Diogo Jota, but I couldn't find him for terrible reasons,” he added.
“And now with the help of our fans, we were able to turn the game around as well. The whole story should be about how impressive the tribute was and our fans. That can only happen at Anfield.”
The former Portuguese footballer’s widow, Rute Cardoso, and her three children were present at Anfield for the emotional moments.
Rute Cardoso pens heartfelt message to Jota
Legit.ng reported that Rute Cardoso sent a heartfelt message to Jota after arriving at Anfield for Liverpool's first Premier League game against Bournemouth.
Cardoso re-shared their wedding video with a caption “a day we will never forget” ahead of visiting Anfield for the first time since the end of last season.
Source: Legit.ng
