Salah strike can’t take edge off Klopp’s pain

JURGEN Klopp saw Mohamed Salah set yet another Liverpool goalscoring record in his extraordinary season, but the painful loss of two points in a 2-2 draw away to West Bromwich Albion left the manager less than enthusiastic about his afternoon at The Hawthorns on Saturday.

Salah scored Liverpool’s second goal as they amassed what looked like a commanding 2-0 lead against the Premier League’s bottom club, taking his tally for the season to 41 in 46 games across all competitions and equalling the Liverpool record for the most goals in a Premier League campaign – 31 scored by Luis Suarez four years ago.

Klopp also saw Danny Ings score his first goal since Octo- ber 2015 to make it 1-0 but, after conceding two late goals to West Brom, and with an eye on Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal first leg with Roma, the Liverpool boss was in no mood to celebrate yet another achievement from the Egyptian.

“Of course I was happy for him,” Klopp said. “But like Mo, first of all we all want to win football games. That’s why I would have loved to talk about this little detail if we won the game but we didn’t.”

Ings, starting just his second league game since October 2015 following two cruciate knee ligament injuries that left his career in jeopardy, was on the mark after just four minutes.

Sadio Mane crossed into the six-yard area where Georginio Wijnaldum laid the ball into the path of Ings, who drove home convincingly.

“It was always clear that if Danny is fit and healthy and Danny can keep the intensity in training, as he has been doing for a long time, that he will then score goals,” Klopp said.

Salah’s strike moved him five goals clear of Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane in the race for the Premier League’s Golden Boot award.

Zaha in fresh diving row

In Saturday’s late game, Wilfried Zaha was involved in a fresh diving storm after the Crystal Palace star was booked for simulation in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Watford.

Zaha has been accused of diving several times this season and the Ivory Coast winger once again found himself in the spotlight for alleged gamesmanship at Vicarage Road.

He angered Watford when he tumbled theatrically in a failed bid to win a penalty following Abdoulaye Doucoure’s first-half challenge.

Zaha escaped a booking for that incident, but when he fell again in the Watford penalty area, this time after an Adrian Mariappa tackle, referee Chris Kavanagh finally produced a yellow card.

The Palace player has been a hate figure to Watford fans since winning the controversial penalty that settled a Championship playoff final between the two clubs in 2015.

Last season, Watford mascot Harry the Hornet mocked Zaha by diving in front of him at the end of a league match at Vicarage Road.

Palace boss Roy Hodgson insisted Zaha hadn’t dived and was being unfairly maligned by rival managers.

“He’s anything other than a cheat and a diver. He’s someone who sometimes is far too desperate to stay on his feet because he wants to score a goal himself,” Hodgson said.

Zaha’s antics couldn’t inspire Palace to the win that would have effectively sealed their Premier League status for another season.

The Eagles are now in 15th place, six points clear of the relegation zone with three games left.