KLOPP WILL BE SALAH-VATING! Mo the merrier as Reds put sorry Stoke to the sword
MO SALAH climbed off the bench to seal victory for Liverpool with a stunning late double.
The Egyptian attacker was left out of the starting line-up against Stoke as Jurgen Klopp juggled his squad for the rigours of December.
But he showed how priceless he is with two classy strikes in seven minutes after replacing Dominic Solanke in the 66th minute.
Klopp was getting nervous as his side came under second-half pressure from Stoke after taking a 17th-minute lead through Sadio Mane.
But Salah (above) made the points safe, first crashing in a spectacular volley from Mane’s 77th-minute cross and then coolly sliding home Liverpool’s third after 84 minutes. Earlier Stoke were left raging, claiming Simon Mignolet should have been red-carded for a first-half challenge which floored Mame Diouf. Klopp’s stars have a formidable record against teams in the bottom half of the table and, with Stoke lying 15th at kick-off, they were in Liverpool’s cross hairs. And it took the visitors less than 20 to stamp their mark on the game with an opening goal which had Stoke fans howling in protest. England youngster Joe Gomez, establishing himself as a reliable right-back, attacked the by-line and pulled the ball back, with home supporters claiming it had gone out. His pass found Solanke, making his first Premier League start for Liverpool since his summer move from Chelsea.
The 20-year-old smuggled the ball through to Mane who cleverly clipped it over Lee Grant to give Liverpool the perfect start.
It was the Senegalese striker’s fourth League goal of the campaign and his first in six games, bringing an end to his longest drought since joining from Southampton.
Liverpool’s 4-4-2 system worked well and, after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had seen a shot saved by Grant at the second attempt, Potters boss Mark Hughes ditched his 5-4-1 formation.
Diouf linked with former Liverpool man Peter Crouch in attack and Stoke began to look far more dangerous.
But despite a greater City threat it was Liverpool who almost went further ahead with a sweet back-heel from Solanke giving Roberto Firmino a clear sight of goal but the Brazilian’s low shot was well saved by Grant.
Then came the controversy with referee Martin Atkinson in the firing line.
Diouf muscled his way in behind Liverpool’s defence and, as he prepared to shoot, keeper Mignolet wiped him out with a wild challenge on the edge of the box.
The fans waited for Atkinson to flash red but instead he only booked the Liverpool keeper, triggering fury from home fans.
From the free-kick Xherdan Shaqiri saw his effort deflected wide with Hughes still raging at the officials.
After the break Stoke upped the ante in a bid to draw level, but hopes of a comeback were shattered by that man Salah.