"I told him, 'I'll give you 500 quid if you score this.'" - England star on Trent Alexander-Arnold's freekick goal in 3-1 win over Finland
England star Jack Grealish has claimed that he owes teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold £500 after the latter's stunning free-kick in the Three Lions' 3-1 win over Finland. The Manchester City winger said that he bet the sum before the 74th-minute set-piece which was curled into the net by the Liverpool defender.
Grealish opened the scoring for England on the night, sweeping the ball into the bottom right corner in the 18th minute. It was his second goal of the 2024-25 Nations League campaign, having already scored in a 2-0 win over Ireland last month (September 7).
In the 73rd minute, superstar midfielder Jude Bellingham earned a free-kick for his side, with Alexander-Arnold stepping up to take it. Recalling his conversation with the 26-year-old full-back before his marvellous strike, Grealish said (via CentreGoals h/t ITV):
"I told him, 'I'll give you 500 quid if you score this.' And then he's gone and slapped it in the top bins."
The goal was Alexander-Arnold's fourth for England in his 33 appearances so far. It was also his first goal of the season, adding to his two assists in nine games for Liverpool across all competitions.
Talking about the game as a whole, Grealish praised the Three Lions' setup, claiming that his side should have scored more goals. He added (via Daily Star):
"I think we could have had a few more, especially towards the end when the game opened up. It was difficult at times in the first half. At the end I think we are bit gutted as players to concede from a set-piece. We needed a win today, so happy with that."
Grealish has made nine appearances at club level this season with two assists to his name.
"He'll be punished" - Roy Keane lashes out at England right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold despite fabulous free-kick in 3-1 win vs Finland
Manchester United legend Roy Keane lambasted Liverpool and England full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold despite his fabulous free-kick goal in a 3-1 win over Finland (October 13). The Irishman claimed that the 26-year-old's defensive flaws heavily outweighed his phenomenal offensive output.
Alexander-Arnold was a stand-out contributor in the win over Finland, but was questionable on the defensive end in the Three Lions' 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley a few days ago (October 10).
His defensive inconsistencies have often come under severe criticism, with Keane taking another dig after the game against Finland. Speaking on ITV, the 53-year-old started off by praising the free-kick, but quickly turned his attention towards the young star's defending.
He said (via Daily Mail):
"Great technique, you can see his standing foot, technique is fantastic. No chance for the goalkeeper. I'm usually harsh on goalkeepers but I'll go easy on that one. You give time to Trent, because his decision making and quality of passing is fantastic, but I can't believe how bad he is defensively and against better teams he'll be punished. If you saw him the other night defending (against Greece), it looked like he'd never played right-back before!"
Up next, Alexander-Arnold will likely be seen in action for Liverpool when they host Chelsea in a blockbuster Premier League clash on October 20.