Steven Gerrard and Al-Ettifaq players celebrate second straight win
Steven Gerrard and Al-Ettifaq players celebrate second successive league victory dancing and singing in the dressing room as his side go joint-top of the Saudi Pro League
- Al-Ettifaq claimed their second straight win in the Saudi Pro League on Friday
- Steven Gerrard’s celebrated the win dancing and signing in the dressing room
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Steven Gerrard maintained his solid start as the new manager of Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq with yet another win on Friday.
The former Liverpool midfielder, who took charge of the Pro League club earlier this summer has claimed his second straight league victory as their manager.
After arriving in July, it took the former England captain some time to get his first win, with the team failing to be victorious in their opening four pre-season friendlies.
But it seems they are coming right into form when it matters, having now clinched a 2-1 victory against Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane’s Al-Nassr last week and on Friday added to that good vein of form with a 2-0 win against Al-Hazm.
It’s been a flawless start to their league campaign, with The Commandos going joint top of the Saudi Arabian Pro League level on six points with Al-Ahli.
Al-Ettifaq boss Steven Gerrard maintained his unbeaten start in the Saudi Pro League on Friday
Gerrard walked into the changing room to see his players celebrating their second successive win and said ‘It’s only two games’ before joining in on the celebrations himself
And understandably, Gerrard’s side were pretty ecstatic about the excellent start to the 2023-24 season, with a video that being posted posted online showing the Liverpool legend walking into the changing rooms following their win against Al-Hazm on Friday night.
While his team can be seen celebrating the victory, banging on a table in the middle of the room, singing and dancing in elation, the English manager stepped into the shot holding up two fingers before repeatedly saying, ‘It’s only two games!’.
Gerrard walked into the crowd of shouting players and again said ‘Hey! It’s only two games’ but his seriousness quickly subsided and the former Aston Villa boss proceded to join in on the celebrations, clapping his hands and dancing on the spot.
With a big grin on his face he preceded to turn around to the camera and seemed equally elated with the win.
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The former Liverpool midfielder and Aston Villa boss had a big smile on his face as he turned to walk out of the changing room
Al-Ettifaq ere without Jordan Henderson (right) as he recovers from a short-term illness
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It has so far been a much brighter start to the season compared to how the team began their 2022-23 campaign that saw Al-Ettifaq lose their opening match of the campaign before drawing the second.
They went on to finish seventh in the domestic league last season, with Gerrard having now made several improvements to the squad, the most notable of those being his former Liverpool team-mate Jordan Henderson.
Henderson did not feature in Friday’s triumph against Al-Hazm, but made his league debut for the Pro League side against Al-Nassr last week, playing 87 minutes.
He completed a £700,000-per-week deal to join the Saudi club earlier this summer, but was subsequently criticised for the move by an LGBTQ+ Liverpool supporters group.
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