Prolific Salah puts Spanish giants
Imagine heading to a six-year-old’s house on Christmas Day and expressing delight as gifts are eagerly accepted, only to feel compelled to introduce a sense of sobriety by announcing there is no Santa Claus.
There was a bit of this going on at the final whistle at Anfield on Saturday night. Was there any chance of Liverpool supporters or officials basking in the gleeful glow of Mohamed Salah’s four goals against Watford?
Of pondering the possibilities in Europe this season, or the feats he might inspire for the rest of his Anfield career? Not without an unwelcome intrusion of logic, it seems. Amid the acclaim, the haste to authoritatively announce it a matter of time before Real Madrid or Barcelona make their bid was only marginally slower than one of Salah’s sprints to goal.
Whatever the motivation behind this outbreak of level-headedness – reason, fear, envy or (most likely) all three – it reflects Salah’s elevation into global phenomenon.
“Well done superstar,” was the message captain Jordan Henderson scribbled on Salah’s match ball. The fact he said this was ‘keeping it simple’ underlines how the Egyptian has casually assumed VIP status.
Lionel Messi/salah comparisons earned Ian Wright ridicule in December. Now the ex-arsenal striker resembles a sage, even if there is lavishness in this well-intentioned applause. Salah’s first goal here, when he put Miguel Britos on his backside before scoring, could have been a reconstruction of the Argentine’s effort against Bayern Munich in the 2015 Champions League.
Among the more extraordinary facts after this four-goal haul is Salah averages a goal every 90 minutes played this season – Messi scores once every 105 minutes.
But a more reasonable reference point is how Salah’s performances put one in mind of Luis Suarez’s Anfield career.
And Salah’s performances do elicit recollections of Suarez’s time at Liverpool. The Egyptian is playing in a more balanced team, but has a similar ability to concoct as much as score goals. He struck his third here in the midst of stumbling, ensuring Watford’s defenders will spend the international break trying to untie the reef knots in neck and back muscles.
He now has 28 league goals, just three short of the record held jointly by Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Suarez since the Premier League was reduced to 20 Lionel Messi scored for the sixth consecutive game as Barcelona tightened their grip on the La Liga title race with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao. The Argentine took his club tally for the season to 35 with a fine finish from the edge of the penalty area. Paco Alcacer opened the scoring, with Messi at the heart of the move, as Barca extended their lead over Atletico Madrid. The forward’s record for scoring in successive appearances is 10 games, set in 2013. His great rival Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 50th career hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 6-3 win over Girona. teams. At this rate, it is one he will surely beat.
Henderson, the only first-team survivor from the Suarez era, says such players instil a belief goals are assured. “Luis is a fantastic player who I was privileged to play with. But Mo this season has been unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable. He is doing it every week, without fail,” he said.
“If we work as hard as we possibly can, then Mo – or even Sadio [Mane] and Bobby [Firmino] – are going to finish it in the final third. We had that with Luis. You know when you are walking out there are so many goals out there for you.”
Every match day, Liverpool’s highly respected club statistician, Ged Rea, takes his seat in the press box ready to offer factual nuggets.
With each Salah goal he is obliged to consult records untouched for 20, 50 or in some cases 100 years. Salah has started his Liverpool career more prolifically than Roger