CZECHS ARE TORN APARTA
Rampant Reds score four goals in first 14 minutes as Mo sets another record
MOHAMED SALAH warmed up for his favourite victims Manchester United by bagging yet another Liverpool goalscoring record.
Salah netted as the Reds scored four goals in seven first-half minutes to become the first player in the club’s history to score 20 or more goals in seven successive seasons.
This was just what United did not need ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup showdown at Old Trafford and Salah is the top scorer in this fixture with 12 goals.
Salah also marked his first Liverpool start since New Year’s Day by bagging a hat-trick of assists and he has had a hand in 33 goals this season.
The Egyptian star was much sharper at Anfield last night and he looked understandably rusty because of his lay-off for his hamstring injury when he came on against Manchester City last Sunday.
It was too easy for Liverpool and in another notable moment, 19-year-old Bobby Clark scored his first senior goal to crown his impressive night. The demolition job began in the seventh minute when Clark fed Dominik Szoboszlai on the right and he centred for Darwin Nunez to score his 17th of the season and his fifth in Europe.
Sparta conceded straight from the kick-off when Salah tackled the sleeping Ladislav Krejci on the edge of their box and Clark pounced on the loose ball to mark his 13th appearance with his first senior goal.
Sparta blundered again in the 10th minute and this time Clark returned the compliment as he robbed Jaroslav Zeleny and fed Salah to sweep home his latest landmark goal.
Sparta were like rabbits caught in the headlights and Salah turned provider again when he crossed for Cody Gakpo to score in the 14th minute.
Nunez then provided another contender for miss of the season when he scooped Salah’s cross over the bar from just six yards.
He smiled, as did Jurgen Klopp (above), and they could both afford to be generous.
Sparta salvaged a smidgen of pride when Veljko Birmancevic latched on to Angelo Preciado’s ball and held off Wataru Endo to score, although his sprint to retrieve the ball from the net was over-zealous.
But the goals kept coming for Liverpool.
In the 48th minute, Salah fed Szoboszlai on the right and his angled shot went through the hapless Peter Vindahl in the Sparta goal.
In the 55th minute, substitute Harvey Elliott’s 20-yard curler was touched home by Gakpo for the Dutchman’s second of the night. It was like a pantomime at times and the home crowd booed when Klopp was booked by referee Artur Dias for going nuts when he delayed Virgil van Dijk’s introduction from the bench.
There was also another debut and the Kop got its first look at Polish striker Mateusz Musialowski when he replaced Clark on a perfect night as Liverpool cruised into to the Europa League quarter-finals.
LIVERPOOL: Kelleher 6, Bradley 6, Gomez 6 (Tsimikas 46, 6), Quansah 6 (Van Dijk 65, 6), Robertson 7, Clark 8 (Musialowski 73) 6, Endo 6 (McConnell 46, 6), Szoboszlai 7, Salah 8, Nunez 7 (Elliott 46, 6), Gakpo 8
SPARTA: Vindahl 3, Vitik 3, Zeleny 2, Krejci 2, Preciado 5, Laci 5 (Sadilek 57, 4) Solbakken 4 (Vydra 74, 4), Kairinen 4, Rynes 4 (Panak 46, 5), Birmancevic 6 (Tuci 65, 4), Kuchta 5 (Haraslin 57, 4)