LIVERPOOL, England -- Daniel Sturridge ensured Liverpool began the post-Luis Suarez era in victorious fashion, scoring a late goal to seal a 2-1 win over Southampton in their first match of the Premier League season on Sunday. Lonzo Ball Pelicans Jersey . Much will be expected of Sturridge this season after the summer departure of his strike partner and the England international showed his poachers instinct with a close-range finish in the 79th minute at Anfield. That salvaged three points from an unconvincing start to the new campaign for last seasons runner-up, which took the lead through Raheem Sterling in the 23rd but lacked urgency for much of the game without the effervescent Suarez. "No disrespect to Luis, hes a great player and will be missed but we move on," said Sturridge, who was the second-highest scorer in the Premier League last season -- behind Suarez -- with 21 goals. "We have proved we can win games and score goals." A new-look Southampton, which lost a slew of its best players this summer, equalized in the 56th when Nathaniel Clyne slammed a fierce shot into the top corner and had chances to go ahead before Sturridge came to Liverpools rescue. Even then, the victory was only just preserved as Morgan Schneiderlin struck the bar for Southampton in the 88th minute and substitute Shane Long headed the rebound just wide. "After 1-1, I think it was one team on the pitch playing," Southampton manager Ronald Koeman said. "But the quality of Liverpool, they dont need a lot of opportunities to score two goals." In these early days of the season, teams will take wins however they come as players readjust to English football after the World Cup and gradually improve fitness. Tottenham and Arsenal -- likely top-four rivals for Liverpool -- both needed late goals to secure wins on Saturday. "We had to grind it out today," said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, who revealed that Suarez had sent him a text before kickoff to wish the team good luck. "As the season rolls on, well get more fluent." Its been a busy summer for Rodgers, who used the proceeds of the sale of Suarez to Barcelona for 75 million pounds ($130 million) to spend about 100 million pounds on new signings to bolster the squad for the extra fixtures that will come from playing in the Champions League. Three of the new recruits came from Southampton -- Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert -- and Lovren started here, earning the Croatia centre back boos and jeers throughout from away fans. Lambert came on as a second-half substitute and caused problems. The impact of Suarezs departure was clear to see, though, with Liverpool lacking spark going forward and Sturridge often appearing isolated without his strike partner. The goal came from one of the few chances he had and Sturridge now has 36 goals from his first 50 league appearances for Liverpool. With Suarez gone and Rodgers playing only one up front in Sturridge, Liverpool will need more goals from midfielders this season and Sterling showed good composure with his finish. The home crowd had been getting restless after a slow opening 20 minutes but came to life after Jordan Henderson won the ball in midfield, beat Schneiderlin in a 50-50 tackle and sent a glorious long ball through to Sterling. One on one with goalkeeper Fraser Forster, the England winger slipped a low shot into the bottom corner. Little was expected of Southampton after its summer fire-sale but in Dusan Tadic, the south-coast team looks to have a new player who can excite its fans. Impressive in the first half, the Serbia winger -- signed from Dutch club FC Twente -- made Clynes equalizer with an exquisite back-heel into the path of the right back, who thumped a shot into the top corner at the near post. Liverpool fell off the pace at the start of the second half and Steven Davis sidefooted a great chance at goalkeeper Simon Mignolet on the hour mark. The introduction of substitutes Joe Allen and Lambert pepped up Liverpool and when Sterling sent a header back into the danger area after a cross had been partially cleared, Sturridge pounced to begin the season as he finished the last. JJ Redick Jersey . NORRIS COLE (Heat): Its funny, you watch a guy play and now really produce and it just jumps off the page at you - why? You put a young player with potential in a winning environment where there is veteran leadership, outstanding coaching and management and a way that things are done and its a wonderful environment for growth, improvement in a climate of constant accountability and expectation of achievement/production. JJ Redick Pelicans Jersey . And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. https://www.pelicanslockerroom.com/Derrick-Favors-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Jets head coach Paul Maurice made the announcement Saturday following the morning skate and confirmed Al Montoya will start in goal against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. MADRID, Spain -- Atletico Madrid finally got the better of Spanish rival Barcelona on Wednesday as Kokes early goal guided his team to a 1-0 win and into the Champions League semifinals with a 2-1 aggregate victory. Adrian Lopez filled in for injured striker Diego Costa and created the fifth-minute goal after hitting the post, as the Atletico forward headed an ensuing cross on to Koke to fire home. The boisterous atmosphere at the Vicente Calderon Stadium unsettled Barcelona early on, and Atletico striker David Villa hit the woodwork twice within the opening 20 minutes. Barcelona dug in but produced few tangible scoring chances apart from a pair of first-half misses by Lionel Messi. Atletico, which leads Barcelona by one point in the league, reached the last four of Europes top competition for the first time since 1974. The teams had played four previous games this season which all ended in draws, but Atleticos breakthrough kept Barcelona from the semifinals for the first time in seven seasons. "We just have to keep working hard and stay calm because we still havent won anything," said Atletico coach Diego Simeone, whose team will face either crosstown rival Real Madrid, Chelsea, or Bayern Munich in a two-legged semifinal. Bayern beat Manchester United 3-1 on Wednesday to eliminate the English champions 4-2 overall. Adrian replaced Costa after Atleticos star striker failed to recover from a hamstring injury and the little-used forward immediately made a mark by rocketing a shot off the near post just before the opening goal. Adrian eventually headed the ball back across the area for Koke to score from close range to the delight of the capacity crowd. Atletico, feeding off the roar of its home supporters, had Barcelona consistently on the back foot early on and Villa found the post in the 11th-minute. Barcelona controlled possession but Atletico was dangerous on the counter as Villa fired on the run over goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto but off the crossbar -- the teaams third touch of the woodwork. Frank Jackson Pelicans Jersey. Messi had Barcelonas lone scoring chances of the first half as he headed Dani Alves cross past the near post in the 13th before firing wide past the opposite post near the break after Neymars quick footwork created the chance inside the area. Barcelona took control from the restart as Atletico hung back, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois doing well to poke the ball away at Messis feet as he darted through the area and then recover in time to ensure the ball was deflected over goal in the ensuing scramble. "There was a big difference between one team and another early on. We couldnt string together four or five passes like we needed to," Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino said. "If we had managed to equalize we might have been able to play the game we wanted." Adrian was taken off to a rousing ovation in the 61st and replaced by Diego Ribas, who scored Atleticos goal in the 1-1 draw in the first leg. Minutes later, Pinto was diving to save from the Brazilian on a counterattack before Atleticos penalty appeals were waved off when Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano tripped up Villa inside the area. Villa and Gabi Fernandez led another counter in the 70th, only for Pinto to kick out Gabis weak shot. Barcelona failed to muster up anything more and Pinto had to make a late save on Villa to keep it close, but the Catalans could not break through the hosts tight defence. "I thought we deserved the draw," Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez said, despite his team managing just five attempts on goal to Atleticos nine. "The game got away from us." After walking off the pitch to loud cheers, the Atletico players re-emerged again to celebrate a memorable victory with the nearly 50,000 fans. "The five games (between Atletico and Barcelona this season) all turned out nearly the same way, there werent any major differences except there was a clear winner this time," Martino said. ' ' '