Luis Diaz on Sunday saved Liverpool from a shock defeat at Luton Town in a 1-1 draw on his first appearance since his parents were kidnapped in his native Colombia.
The winger was introduced as a substitute moments after Tahith Chong had given Luton a stunning lead 10 minutes from time.
Diaz’s soaring leap and header five minutes into stoppage time denied the Hatters their first ever home win in the English Premier League.
Photo: Reuters
His mother was rescued within hours of her capture on Oct. 28, but the search goes on for his father Luis Manuel Diaz.
The 26-year-old revealed a T-shirt reading “freedom for dad” after scoring and again at full-time.
“It’s a wonderful moment, but it doesn’t change the situation,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said. “The most important thing is his father is released.”
“It is wonderful he wanted to be here. For us a super important goal and for him very important and emotional, but that’s it,” Klopp added.
LuisDiaz’s remarkable show of strength glossed over a poor performance and result for the Reds.
Liverpool spent more on each of their starting midfield trio this summer than Luton have in the transfer market since the advent of the Premier League in 1992.
Yet, Rob Edwards’ men were seconds away from one of the biggest shocks in Premier League history.
Darwin Nunez struck the crossbar early on for the visitors, but it was a spectacular miss with the score still level at 0-0.
Mohamed Salah should also have scored with a free header from close range 20 minutes from time, but when the Egyptian’s effort fell to Nunez, he somehow blazed over with the goal gaping.
Instead it was Chong who opened the scoring in controversial fashion.
Liverpool were screaming for a penalty for handball against Ross Barkley at a corner as Luton broke upfield and Issa Kabore crossed for the former Manchester United winger to slot home.
Diaz was then summoned from the bench and in a fairytale ending grabbed the equalizer when he met Harvey Elliott’s cross to the back post.
There is hope that Diaz’s father could soon be released after the head of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group that seized the couple said that the organization had made a “mistake.”
Liverpool missed the chance to go second in the table, but edge up to third, above Arsenal on goal difference. A point takes Luton out of the relegation zone.
Earlier, Nottingham Forest stunned Aston Villa with their first Premier League win in seven games as Ola Aina and Orel Mangala struck in a deserved 2-0 win.
A much-needed victory for Forest eases speculation that Steve Cooper was at risk of becoming the first Premier League manager of the season to be sacked.
“I’ve got a lot of gratitude for the players for sticking to the plan and committing to it,” Cooper said.
Forest climb to 12th in the table, eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS