Liverpool’s new forward Diogo Jota sent a message congratulating Fabinho for his performance in Jurgen Klopp’s defence in the 2-0 win against Chelsea, writing on his Instagram page
The Portuguese international, who moved to the Premier League champions for £45m from Wolves on Saturday, saw his new side beat the Blues 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Sadio Mane grabbed both goals in the second half as Andreas Christensen saw red and Kepa Arrizabalaga’s gaffe handed him a brace.
One man who also had a strong game for the Reds was Fabinho, who slotted into Jurgen Klopp’s defence due to injuries with Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.
But he picked up Liverpool ’s Man of the Match award in a fan vote on social media.
And his new team-mate took the chance to share a message on the Brazilian’s Instagram channel celebrating the victory over Chelsea.
Fabinho shared two images from the game at Stamford Bridge with the caption: “Great one today, lads. Big win.”
Commenting in Portuguese, Jota simply said “bro, what a game” along with two clapping emojis.
Klopp also singled out the Brazilian for his impressive performance at Stamford Bridge by keeping Chelsea’s No.11 quiet, telling Sky Sports: “Timo is a top player.
“With space [behind the defence]…there’s no tactic which can defend him when he has the ball, but Fabinho is outstanding, a really good challenger.
“Today he enjoyed it a lot. If Sadio doesn’t score two goals then a man of the match contender is Fab.”
The German also went on to praise the whole team for making a “perfect day” as the Reds defend their Premier League title.
“The goal says everything [about Mane] and it says a lot about the team as well. I loved these situations that we had quite a lot that we chased the goalie.
Then, he was close in the first half to blocking him already and he just had to do it.
“I love it when we get the reward for these situations. Yes, you are right.
The first goal was a nice piece of football and everybody involved pretty much the ball through, the cross in and Sadio comes in front of his man and got the goal to send the game in the right direction.”
It comes as Fabinho’s wife Rebeca Tavares gave a two-word verdict of the midfielder’s performance for Liverpool.
He said: “Really good, nice, clean sheet, Ali saves a penalty, Thiago debut and if Hendo has nothing, then it is a perfect day.