Fabinho's 5 best moments for Liverpool
One of Jurgen Klopp’s best ever buys for Liverpool, Fabinho is set to depart Anfield for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad in a £40m move.
The Brazilian was brought in soon after Liverpool’s 2018 Champions League final loss to Real Madrid, in order to help take the Reds to the next level.
The very next season Liverpool won Europe's biggest honour, while he also helped his side to the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in his five years at Anfield.
Fabinho has certainly had some memorable moments in Merseyside. Here are his top five.
READ MORE: Fabinho — the rise and decline of Liverpool's quiet superstar
5. Crystal Palace Goal (24/6/2020)
In what was Liverpool’s second game back following the COVID-enforced postponement of the Premier League, a win at Anfield took Liverpool within two points of claiming the 2019/20 Premier League title.
This would in fact turn out to be the Reds final game before lifting the trophy, as Manchester City went on to lose to Chelsea the following day.
A stunning Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick opened the scoring for Jurgen Klopp’s men before Mohamed Salah doubled their lead. Ten minutes into the second half, Fabinho struck gold, picking the ball up 30-yards from goal before drilling a magnificent rising right-foot finish past a helpless Wayne Hennessey.
This goal might've have gone on to be his greatest goal in a Liverpool shirt if it wasn’t for another strike later on in this list…
4. Rendition of YNWA after beating Barcelona (7/5/2019)
That night in May 2019 will probably go down as one of the greatest in the history of Liverpool football club. 3-0 down to Barcelona after the first leg, the Red men returned to Anfield a week later, destroying the Spanish side 4-0.
The scenes of celebration after the match will be remembered by all for an eternity, but a certain Brazilian belting out ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ at full-time comes to mind first. As the whole of the squad and backroom staff lined up in front of the Kop, belting out the anthem, Fabinho was evidently one of the most passionate, screaming the words at the top of his lungs.
It certainly showed all at Liverpool just how much the club meant to Fab, having only been at Anfield a number of months.
3. Luis Suarez Tackle vs Barcelona (7/5/2019)
I wouldn’t be doing my job correctly if this moment wasn’t included among Fabinho’s greatest. In the same match, long before he was seen emotionally belting out club anthems, Fab had just crunched Luis Suarez.
11 minutes into the game, the Brazilian produced a brilliant tackle on the former Liverpool man, getting the ball first and then clattering the Uruguayan. What should have been a perfectly legal tackle was deemed a foul, and also a yellow card for Fabinho, who turned around to shout in the face of Suarez.
He later wrote for The Players' Tribune: "I remember after we scored the first goal in the first 10 minutes, I did this crazy slide tackle on Suarez. The referee gave me a yellow but I didn’t care because the adrenaline was so high. I was reacting to the energy from the crowd and they were responding to us. Everyone was on fire. Every player and every fan."
2. Panenka Penalty vs Chelsea (27/2/2022)
In Liverpool’s first cup final in the 2021/22 quadruple chasing season, the Brazilian certainly showed off the coolest moment in his Liverpool career.
After a fairly dull 120 minutes at Wembley as the Reds battled Chelsea for the League Cup, the game eventually went to penalties. Both sides had scored their openers thanks to James Milner and Marcos Alonso. Fabinho was up next and didn’t miss his opportunity.
A beautifully dinked finish down the centre of the goal brought cheers all around Wembley, as Liverpool would go on to win 11-10 from the spot-kicks. To make things even better, during the Brazilian’s post-match interview he said, “The day before I tried to do a Panenka, and it was just me and Luis Díaz. I told him: ‘Tomorrow if it goes to pens, I will shoot it like this.’ He didn’t believe me.”
Cool as ice.
1. Manchester City Stunner (10/11/2019)
Here we are, you probably guessed it. Fabinho’s sixth-minute stunner against Manchester City surely goes down as his greatest-ever Liverpool moment.
In the Reds’ Premier League winning season, their first real test came in November against the reigning champions. A win was very much needed to continue Klopp’s brilliant run, and his side certainly provided.
Only a few minutes into the match, a strong handball shout on Trent Alexander-Arnold was waved away before a Liverpool counterattack ending with Fabinho riffling a 25-yard strike past his countryman Ederson into the net.
The following pictures of Pep Guardiola screaming at the fourth official, whilst Fabinho celebrated in front of the City away are iconic.
A fitting moment to crown Fabinho’s top five.