Archives for September 2022

Liverpool’s win over Newcastle came in dramatic fashion, with Fabio Carvalho‘s 98th minute winner sparking wild scenes around Anfield, with bench antics, timewasting and some simply hilarious celebrations.

The Reds secured their first league win of the season with a 9-0 victory against Bournemouth on Saturday, but a late win like this one feels even sweeter, right?

After Newcastle did all they could to run down the clock, their blatant timewasting came back to bite when substitute Carvalho lashed in the winner with the last kick of the game.

Even before the winner, the away side’s conduct had led to tension between both benches, so when the Reds went ahead, it was no surprise to see things boil over slightly!

Here are four things fans noticed from another memorable night at Anfield.

Nunez loved every second of it!

— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) September 1, 2022

Darwin Nunez was, of course, unable to feature in this game, as he served the final match of a three-game suspension following his sending off against Crystal Palace.

But that didn’t stop him from enjoying the fun behind the Liverpool substitutes bench!

When the two benches clashed after Carvalho’s winner, the Uruguayan could be seen hurling abuse at the Newcastle coaching staff.

— forzathereds (@forzathereds) August 31, 2022

Darwin Nunez is hilarious. He backs it. pic.twitter.com/NtP8dbw7Z3

— Lewis Bower (@LewisBower2021) August 31, 2022

my dad sits behind the dugout and says Nunez was screaming putas at all the Newcastle players hahahahah

— ava (@avalallana) August 31, 2022

Go’ ed, Darwin!

Pope’s timewasting karma

Nick Pope was ‘injured’ and took 94 seconds for play to restart.

Liverpools corner from which they scored the winner was won at 96:34, some 94 seconds after the original 5 minutes was up…#LIVNEW pic.twitter.com/nz7SCudMh8

— Callum Eakins (@CallumEakins2) August 31, 2022

At times, it felt as if the ball was in Nick Pope’s hands or out of play a lot more often than it was actually was on the pitch.

When the Newcastle goalkeeper went down ‘injured’ in stoppage, it took 94 seconds for play to restart.

Fitting, then, that Carvalho’s winner came 94 seconds after the initial five minutes of injury time. Unlucky, Nick!

Obviously all fun and games in the end last night, but time wasting is genuinely a big problem for the Premier League at the moment. Nick Pope should’ve been booked after less than 10 mins yesterday to set a precedent – fans don’t pay £50+ to see that shite.

— Liam Corcoran (@LiamCorcoran28) September 1, 2022

Nick Pope sits down for almost three minutes and BT Sport acting as if Andre Marriner shouldn’t have added on the extra time.

— Simon Clancy (@SiClancy) August 31, 2022

Joel Matip doing Joel Matip things

He really is the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t he?

In amongst the bedlam of the celebrations after the winner, Joel Matip could be seen celebrating on his knees in the Liverpool dugout.

What he was doing, we don’t know, but we absolutely love it.

Here for the Joel Matip shithousery whilst celebrating the goal in front of the Newcastle bench ??? pic.twitter.com/Z7Z7QGhRDx

Bottle thrown at Liverpool staff

Newcastle bench (one stood up and one sat down hidden in shot) throwing things at a Liverpool staff member. Care to comment @premierleague ? pic.twitter.com/nBtaZHvOGa

— John Steed (@Paul49765641) August 31, 2022

No wonder the Liverpool bench enjoyed celebrating in front of Eddie Howe and his backroom team!

In the aftermath of the game, BT Sport captured footage that appeared to show a Newcastle staff member launching what looked like a bottle towards the Liverpool bench.

No place for that in the game, surely?

They quite rightly deserved to be booed off. Awful awful tactics.

They got what they deserved. Nothing. pic.twitter.com/mGnXl4U6Ft

— ZAGKAG (@ZAGKAG1811) August 31, 2022

Not sure I can remember the last time a team was booed off like this at Anfield, but can they really have any complaints?

Funny Face’s ex-wife Elizabeth Nana Adjoa Ntim who tagged him as a ‘2-minute man’ is reportedly set to remarry this month.

TOKYO — The director of the Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremony was fired Thursday over a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998.

Kentaro Kobayashi was ousted just a day before the pandemic-delayed Games were set to officially kickoff Friday with an elaborate ceremony he helped create, the latest in a long list of setbacks to hit the event.

Kobayashi was fired “after a joke he had made in the past about a painful historical event was brought to light,” the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said in a statement.

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Kobayashi used the phrase “Let’s play Holocaust” in the act, organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said in a statement.

“We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, had used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Hashimoto said.

“We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country.”

Tokyo Games are underway amid new COVID-19 concerns

Kobayashi said Thursday he regretted the incident.

“Entertainment should not make people feel uncomfortable. I understand that my stupid choice of words at that time was wrong, and I regret it,” he said in a statement.

Kobayashi, 48, is a former member of a comedy duo called “Rahmens” and his unearthed attempt at Holocaust humor drew immediate condemnation from Jewish groups like the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles after it surfaced on Twitter.

Kobayashi is shown cutting up paper figures of human beings while talking about coming up with a “let’s massacre Jewish people game” in the skit.

It was not immediately clear who first posted the video footage online.

“Any person, no matter how creative, does not have the right to mock the victims of the Nazi genocide,” said the group’s Rabbi Abraham Cooper, who said the Nazis also sent disabled Germans to the gas chambers.

“Any association of this person to the Tokyo Olympics would insult the memory of 6 million Jews and make a cruel mockery of the Paralympics,” he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who has faced criticism for the decision to hold the Games in the midst of the pandemic, told reporters Thursday that “this incident is utterly outrageous and completely unacceptable.”

Kobayashi helped craft an opening ceremony at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium that will get underway at 7 a.m. ET Friday with no fans in the stands due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and the current state of emergency in Tokyo.

While the stadium can seat 68,000 people, there will be less than a thousand officials on hand to cheer on the athletes from more than 200 countries. Dignitaries will include First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, who is leading the American delegation, and Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

The ouster of Kobayashi came just days after another key member of the creative group that put together the opening ceremony, musician Keigo “Cornelius” Oyamada, was fired after boasts that he bullied disabled classmates surfaced online.

Oyamada apologized and both he and his music were removed from the program.

The Olympics have been beset by several other scandals over the past year, too.

In February, the president of the committee, Yoshiro Mori, was forced out after he said female sports officials talk too much during meetings. A month later, the Games’ original creative director, Hiroshi Sasaki, was ousted for comparing Japanese celebrity Naomi Watanabe to a pig.

Inside look at Covid precautions at Tokyo Olympics swimming venue

The pandemic derailed the Olympics last year and in the run-up to Friday’s official kickoff the Tokyo 2020 organizers have had to contend with a troubling increase in new Covid-19 cases and opposition from the Japanese public, a majority of whom fear the influx of athletes and others from abroad could turn the Games into a superspreader event.

Even before Kobayashi’s departure was announced Friday, the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun blasted the committee, writing that is has been “dogged by a series of missteps.”

“The “Festival of Peace” is going to open amid this pathetic mess nobody even imagined possible,” the newspaper wrote, referring to one of the themes of the opening ceremony.

Olympics officials acknowledged the troubles but said they remained determined to press ahead.

“We are going to have the opening ceremony tomorrow and, yes, I am sure there are a lot of people who are not feeling easy about the opening of the Games,” Hashimoto said.

“But we are going to open the Games tomorrow under this difficult situation.”