Firmino rubs salt in Liverpool wounds as Mendy shown up on Saudi debut

Henderson keen to help grow Saudi game as England ambitions remain

Roberto Firmino added insult to injury for Liverpool on a turbulent day for the Reds by bagging a brilliant hat-trick on his Al-Ahli debut. Jurgen Klopp was left reeling earlier on Friday when Moises Caicedo turned down a move to Anfield despite Brighton accepting a nine-figure bid for his services.

Caicedo reportedly informed Liverpool that he only wanted to join Chelsea, who are now expected to submit an improved offer in the coming days. Matters quickly went from bad to worse for Liverpool after it emerged that Romeo Lavia was close to joining the Blues despite the Southampton ace being a target for Klopp all summer.

The Merseyside giants were then left to rue what might have been if Firmino had stayed at the club, with the 31-year-old scoring three goals for Al-Ahli against Al-Hazm later in the evening. He wasted no time in thumping home a bullet header inside six minutes before doubling his tally from close range just moments later.

Firmino thought he had wrapped up a debut hat-trick after the break when he fired into the bottom corner, but he was denied by the assistant referee flagging for offside. His third goal eventually came in the 72nd minute, though, with the Brazilian ace needing two attempts to stab the ball home after his initial effort was saved.

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The former Liverpool ace was part of a formidable front three which also included Riyad Mahrez and Allan Saint-Maximin, who also impressed on their debuts in Saudi Arabia. Mahrez’s quality was clear to see as he dictated Al-Ahli’s attacking play, while Saint-Maximin caused no shortage of issues for Al-Hazm’s defenders with his direct running and skilful footwork.

However, it was a different story for Edouard Mendy, who started in goal but failed to mark his first competitive game for Al-Ahli with a clean sheet. A few mistakes crept into his game during his final year at Chelsea and he made another glaring error in the second half when he was lobbed from outside the box.

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Mendy was caught way off his line by Al-Hazm forward Vinicius, who took full advantage by floating the ball into the back of the net. The Senegal stopper was visibly frustrated as a result of his poor positioning, although his embarrassing moment did not stop Al-Ahli from claiming a 3-1 win on the opening day of the Saudi Pro League season.

A number of other interesting fixtures will take place in the Gulf state this weekend, with Cristiano Ronaldo set to face Jordan Henderson when Al-Nassr play Al-Ettifaq on Saturday. Meanwhile, the likes of Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly and Sergey Milinkovic-Savic will be in action for Al-Hilal against Abha on Monday afternoon.

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