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Liverpool strike late to win emotional PL opener

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2 months ago

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Liverpool strike late to win emotional PL opener


Aug 15, 2025, 04:48 PM ET

Liverpool launched the Premier League with a dramatic 4-2 win over Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday in an emotionally charged match featuring tributes to Diogo Jota and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo reporting racial abuse.

The winger responded brilliantly with both of the Cherries’ goals as they came from down two as Andoni Iraola’s side exposed the same defensive weaknesses Crystal Palace did in Sunday’s Community Shield victory.

– Prem opener paused over report of racist abuse
– Liverpool pay emotional tribute to Jota at opener
– Liverpool summon inner strength for dramatic win

But forgotten man Federico Chiesa, Liverpool’s solitary signee last summer who has barely been featured and has been linked with a move elsewhere, volleyed home his first league goal in the 88th minute before Mohamed Salah scored for the eighth time in nine opening-day fixtures.

Summer signee Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo had earlier put the Reds up 2-0.

In between those goals, the game was briefly paused after Semenyo reported to referee Anthony Taylor in the 28th minute that he was targeted with racist language by a member of the crowd.

Semenyo, who is Black, needed to be consoled by teammates after the incident but played on and scored in the 64th and 76th minutes to draw Bournemouth level.

“I don’t know how Ant’s played on, to be honest, and come up with those goals,” said Bournemouth captain Adam Smith, who added that Semenyo was “a little bit down.”

Liverpool manager Arne Slot said the incident “takes the shine off” his team’s victory.

It was the first competitive match at Anfield since Jota — a popular player for Liverpool — and his brother, André Silva, were killed in a car crash in Spain on July 3.

Ahead of kickoff, fans held up placards to spell out “DJ20” and “AS30” in two of the stands during a period of silence in honor of the Portuguese players.

Players from the Liverpool team stood arm in arm around the center circle, and staff and players from both clubs wore black armbands.

“The main emotion should be how impressive and powerful the tribute for Diogo was,” Slot told a news conference. “The banner the Kop showed, the way they sang ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone,’ the way they sung for Diogo throughout the game.

“It was all so impressive and so powerful.”

Liverpool had announced the £23 million ($31m) signing of 18-year-old Parma center back Giovanni Leoni before kickoff, but it would be no surprise for this result to hasten the pursuit of Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi with Ibrahima Konaté, in particular, looking shaky.

It had begun so well with another Premier Leaguer debutant, Ekitike, starting to pay back his £69 million ($94m) transfer fee with a first-half goal, having also scored last weekend.

Ekitike thought he had been denied by the season’s first VAR controversy after just 14 minutes when Marcos Senesi appeared to flick the ball away on the halfway line, but VAR ruled it was not a clear handball or the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity.

The France under-21 international then benefited from a more fortuitous touch off the defender, latching onto a mistake after his own miscontrol of Alexis Mac Allister’s pass to run through and comfortably send Djordje Petrovic the wrong way.

He then headed over before halftime, but his assimilation into the role vacated by Jota and Darwin Núñez, transferred to Al Hilal, was evident as Ekitike laid on the return pass for Gakpo to glide past a couple of defenders and stroke past Petrovic.

But when Slot replaced fullbacks Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, two of the four new signees making their debuts, Bournemouth clinically exploited the unfamiliarity of midfielder Wataru Endo playing at right back.

David Brooks raced down the left, and Konaté could not prevent him sending over a teasing, low cross that Semenyo cleverly finished.

Slot made immediate changes, bringing on defender Joe Gomez despite just two days’ training after three weeks out with injury, to allow Endo to move into midfield and club-record signee Florian Wirtz to move to a false nine for Ekitike.

But when Salah, of all people, gave away possession on the edge of the opposition penalty area, a fast 4-on-2 counterattack saw Semenyo fire home, only for Chiesa, already a cult hero despite his lack of action, to be the savior.

Salah completed the scoring in added time and was last to leave the pitch, with tears in his eyes, having stood applauding the Kop singing Jota’s song.

Salah also repeated Jota’s two-armed celebration after his goal, and Ekitike and Gakpo also dedicated their goals to Jota.

“Normally at 2-2, everyone knows which player I look to at that moment in time. I would have loved to bring in Diogo Jota, but I could not, for terrible reasons,” Slot said.

“But tonight, the fans and the players did what he did for us many times in the past.”

Information from ESPN’s Beth Lindop, PA and The Associated Press was used in this report.



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Fact-check: AI-generated image falsely shows Pakistan captain bowing to Indian cricketer

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October 16, 2025

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Fact-check: AI-generated image falsely shows Pakistan captain bowing to Indian cricketer


A photo circulating on Indian social media claims to show Pakistan’s national women’s cricket team captain Fatima Sana kneeling and touching the feet of Indian player Smriti Mandhana during the India vs Pakistan match at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Cup on October 5.

The image was created using publicly available Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and is not real.

Claim

On October 6, a user on X, a platform formerly known as Twitter, shared an alleged image of Pakistan’s women’s cricket team captain bowing and touching the feet of Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana during a match in Sri Lanka.

The accompanying image was captioned: “Pakistan captain Fatima Sana Touch Feet of Smriti Mandhana after her loss vs India in World Cup.”

Similar claims were also shared on Facebook here, here, and here.

Fact

No such incident took place at the cricket match and the image being circulated online has been created using AI tools.

Geo Fact Check used two digital media forensics tools to verify the picture. Both Attestiv and Hive Moderation found the image to be highly likely to have been generated with Artificial Intelligence. Attestiv gave it a Tamper Score of 98, while Hive Moderation ranked it 77.3% likely created by AI.

Both Hive Moderation and Attestiv find the image to be a deep fake.
Both Hive Moderation and Attestiv find the image to be a deep fake.
Both Hive Moderation and Attestiv find the image to be a deep fake.

Geo Fact Check also reviewed the full match of October 5 as well as its commentary. There was no mention of any incident involving Fatima Sana touching Smriti Mandhana’s feet.

Verdict: The image showing Fatima Sana bowing to Smriti Mandhana is AI-generated and does not depict a real event.

Follow us on @GeoFactCheck on X (Twitter) and @geo_factcheck on Instagram. If our readers detect any errors, we encourage them to contact us at [email protected]





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ALCS takeaways: Best moments, Game 3 hero from Blue Jays’ dominant win

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3 hours ago

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October 16, 2025

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ALCS takeaways: Best moments, Game 3 hero from Blue Jays’ dominant win


Oct 15, 2025, 11:00 PM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays needed to bounce back — and that they did.

Toronto stormed back Wednesday night in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series with a barrage of home runs that led to a dominant 13-4 victory over the Mariners, cutting Seattle’s series lead to 2-1 after the Blue Jays dropped the first two games at home.

How did Toronto win its first game of the ALCS? We’ve got you covered with the top moments, takeaways and a look at where the series goes from here.

Key links: How Vlad Jr., Jays bet on each other | LCS update | Bracket

Takeaways

Seattle leads series 2-1

It was over when … Even after the Blue Jays’ five-run outburst off George Kirby in the third inning, there was at least hope for a Seattle comeback. Then, George Springer delivered a two-out exclamation point in the fourth inning with a 431-foot home run to center field and followed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. delivering a second exclamation point in the fifth inning with another blast to center. The Jays’ bats are back. — David Schoenfield

Game 3 star: After surrendering a two-run homer to Julio Rodriguez in the first inning, Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber simplified his pitch mix and leaned into his slider, shutting out the Mariners in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, as Toronto went on to build an insurmountable lead. — Buster Olney

The stat that defined Game 3: The Blue Jays are the third team in MLB history in a single postseason to score 10-plus runs in three games before the World Series, per ESPN Research.

What it means going for the rest of the series: When Rodriguez blistered his 112.2 mph home run in the first inning, it seemed like the Jays were on the verge of being wiped out in this series. But now they are back in the fight, with 41-year-old Max Scherzer lined up to make his 31st postseason appearance to face the Mariners’ Luis Castillo.

Top moments

Toronto gets much-needed Game 3 win behind home run barrage

Seattle goes back-to-back in the 8th for first runs since 1st inning

It’s raining homers! Alejandro Kirk‘s 3-run mash makes it 12-2

Vlad Jr. adds home run as Jays pile on

Daulton Varsho‘s 2-RBI double caps off 5-run inning for Toronto

Blue Jays answer with their own blast — and now we’re tied

J-Rod hits 2-run home run to give M’s early lead

Josh Naylor rocking a vintage KD jersey ahead of Game 3





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Mark Teixeira says ‘unreasonable’ Democrats are holding Americans ‘hostage’ with government shutdown

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October 16, 2025

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Mark Teixeira says ‘unreasonable’ Democrats are holding Americans ‘hostage’ with government shutdown


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The government shutdown is more than two weeks old, and an MLB star turned congressional candidate is pointing the finger at Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Mark Teixeira, who launched his campaign for Texas’ 21st Congressional District in August, said the “craziness we’ve seen on the left” has set “a terrible precedent” as the government shutdown continues.

The former Texas Ranger, Atlanta Brave, and New York Yankee said the Democrats are not doing “their job” and should be willing to negotiate.

“Elections have consequences. The losing side of an election knows that they’re not going to get everything they want every time a bill is passed, or a budget is passed. So you have to accept that maybe you’re not going to get your way,” Teixeira told Will Cain on Wednesday. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM 

Texas Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira against the Chicago Cubs at Hohokam Park in Mesa, Arizona. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)

“The Democrats are saying, ‘No, we don’t accept that. We’re just going to shut the government down, and we’re going to make Americans, we’re going to make military pay for us complaining that we’re not getting our way.”

Mark Teixeira #25 of the National League looks on during pregame ceremonies.

Mark Teixeira #25 of the National League looks on during pregame ceremonies prior to the 2024 All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Arlington, Texas.  (Sam Hodde/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

BOSTON MAYOR RESPONDS TO TRUMP’S THREATS TO PULL WORLD CUP GAMES OUT OF CITY AMID SAFETY CONCERNS

Cain showed a Reuters/Ipsos poll that indicated 67% of voters blame Republicans for the shutdown, and 63% also blamed Democrats and 63% blamed President Donald Trump. But Teixeira said he does not “trust polls,” adding that there is still “Trump derangement syndrome” among those blaming conservatives.

“As long as there are Democrats and there are people out there that say everything Republicans do is bad, even if it’s reasonable. This is reasonable. Hey listen, you want to negotiate on some things? Alright, give us a few weeks. We’ll negotiate. But don’t shut the government down and hold the American worker, the American military personnel hostage because you haven’t gotten your way up to this point,” Teixeira said.

“I understand that a lot doesn’t get passed when you don’t have big majorities, and we have to work across the aisle every now and then. But we’re not going to negotiate with terrorists. We’re not going to negotiate with a party that says ‘if we don’t get our way, if we don’t change the rules, then I’m going to close the government down.’ That’s not fair to the American people, it’s not fair to all the Republicans that are trying to do this the right way and (saying) ‘Just give us a few more weeks to negotiate.’ 

Mark Teixeira

Mark Teixeira playing for the Texas Rangers. (Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports)

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“I just believe Democrats are being unreasonable.”

In an X post earlier this month, Teixeira said, “Democrats are destroying our country, and President Trump needs reinforcements who will fight to take our country back.”

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.





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