Super Salah
Hot-shot strikes twice to earn win for Klopp’s men
EVERYTHING Virgil van Dijk needed to know about his new club was there in front of him. From the defensive howler that gifted Leicester an early lead to the brilliance of Mo Salah that meant Liverpool triumphed from adversity and remain in the top four.
Van Dijk, whose £75million transfer from Southampton will be ratified when the window opens tomorrow, received a great ovation as he took his seat in Anfield’s main stand.
After three minutes, he saw exactly why he’d been bought, a loose pass from his prospective new defensive partner Joel Matip triggering a series of mishaps that allowed Jamie Vardy to score and have Leicester dreaming of a first Anfield win since 2000.
Jurgen Klopp’s men battered away for an equaliser for the remainder of the first half without joy. But when you have Salah, it’s never over.
His equaliser after 52 minutes left Christian Fuchs on his backside and Daniel Amartey kicking thin air. The winner was even better, spinning Harry Maguire 180 degrees before sprinting off into the distance and firing home. It was Salah’s 23rd goal of an outstanding debut season at Anfield, his 17th in the Premier League, and left you hoping England avoid Egypt at next summer’s World Cup.
‘He can keep this standard for sure,’ said Klopp, who has to wait and see if his star man can recover in time to face Burnley tomorrow after limping off late on.
‘He scored two fantastic goals but he knows and I know he couldn’t have done so well this season without the support of all the other boys. Sadio Mane’s idea for the first goal, a lot of people wouldn’t have seen it as an opportunity.
‘You don’t want to be 1-0 down but if you are, you want the best reaction, and ours was fantastic. I didn’t see one nervous player.
‘I liked the first half a lot apart from the scoreline. There was not a lot to change, just do the same again and again. It felt so good to see our goals go in. So fair and deserved. Everyone in the stadium could see, “Wow, that was one of the best games we have played”.’
With Van Dijk waiting in the wings and expected to make his debut in the FA Cup against Everton on Friday, there was pressure on existing centre-halves Matip and Dejan Lovren to perform, with Loris Karius preferred to Simon Mignolet behind them.
Liverpool’s defence crumbled in their first test. Matip played a careless pass into midfield where Vicente Iborra was stronger than Emre Can to win the 50-50. The Spaniard’s pass to Riyad Mahrez beat a despairing stretch from left-back Andy Robertson and when Mahrez fired low into the box, Vardy easily won a foot race with Matip for a tap-in.
Liverpool’s reaction was good and they won’t know how they reached the interval without scoring. Maguire made a brilliant sliding tackle to deny Salah when he was put through and the ‘Egyptian Messi’ also shot wide from Mane’s cross after a brilliant first touch took him away from Fuchs. Kasper Schmeichel made saves from James Milner, and a particularly good one from Roberto Firmino, and when he was beaten by Mane, the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
A ball change midway through the half didn’t alter Liverpool’s luck, with Schmeichel saving again from Firmino and Robertson’s penalty claim after a strong challenge from Amartey being waved
away by Neil Swarbrick. The equaliser belatedly arrived early in the second half. Mane’s clever backheel found Salah in the box and he wriggled his hips to throw Leicester’s defenders off-track before slotting home.
In the aftermath of the goal, Maguire and Can were both booked for grappling for the ball after Maguire had picked it up from the back of the net. ‘It wasn’t a necessary yellow but it showed our spirit,’ said Klopp. Salah threatened again when he was fed by Philippe Coutinho, but he lifted his finish on to the roof of the net.
At the other end, Leicester still carried a threat themselves and Wilfred Ndidi was agonisingly close with a 25-yard swerver struck with the outside of his boot. So, once again, it was left for Salah to weave his magic shortly after Claude Puel had withdrawn Mahrez and Vardy.
Firmino’s pass to Milner was played on first time by Liverpool’s skipper and Salah spun Maguire and accelerated away in one movement, before finishing.
Klopp sent on an extra defender, Ragnar Klavan, for the closing moments and to underline Liverpool’s team ethic, the Estonian took one for the team, being accidentally punched in the back by Karius as his side held out.
For Leicester’s manager Puel, it was a second away game in a row in which his side lost having taken the lead. ‘It is a big disappointment because we were winning for a long time,’ he said.
‘We came up against fantastic players like Salah who can change the game any time. But I think we deserved something. I am frustrated for my squad.’
They love their history at Anfield and one statistic stood out that underlines the impact Salah has made since his £34million move from Roma. He is the first Liverpool player to score 23 goals between August and the New Year since Roger Hunt in 1960.
Van Dijk will be impressed.