Liverpool veteran James Milner put his many years of experience to good use as Mohamed Salah stepped up to take a penalty in the Community Shield clash with Manchester City.
The Reds defeated their rivals 3-1 at the King Power Stadium in the season's traditional curtain-raiser on Saturday evening. Salah scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot after Julian Alvarez levelled in the second half from Trent Alexander-Arnold's early opener.
The Egyptian showed nerves of steel to bury a powerful effort from 12 yards into the bottom corner and restore Liverpool's lead, before Darwin Nunez's header secured victory in added time. While the gazes of viewers up and down the country were fixed firmly on Salah as he ran up to take his spot kick, eagle-eyed fans have spotted Milner's clever actions right before the ball was struck.
The 36-year-old stood further back then the rest of the players around the penalty area and decided to mimic his teammate's run-up. This meant Milner arrived in the box with plenty of momentum compared to those around him just as Salah made contact with the ball, meaning he would have been ideally-placed to get on the end of any rebound without committing an infringement.
As it happened, Milner was not required as Salah found the back of the net at the first time of asking, but he was first to reach his teammate and embrace him as the Reds went 2-1 up. The versatile midfielder waited a decade to lift the Community Shield for the second time, having previously won it with Manchester City back in 2012.
Against the Sky Blues on Saturday, Milner came off the bench with just over a quarter of an hour remaining to replace goalscorer Alexander-Arnold at right-back. Minutes later, fellow substitute Darwin Nunez won his new side a penalty as his header was handled by City defender Ruben Dias.
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Salah made no mistake from 12 yards and Nunez wrapped up the Community Shield triumph by getting on the end of Andy Robertson's cross in the 94th minute. Robertson hopes collecting the first silverware of the season can be the impetus for Liverpool to win more trophies, adding to their recent FA Cup and EFL Cup successes.
The left-back said: "It's obviously the first game of the season and you only get here by being successful, and [it was] a really tough game against a top opposition, but it's always nice to win it. This is the first taste for us, so hopefully it’s not the last trophy we win this season."
