SALAH’S TOO GOOD

31 goals in all competitions for Egyptian as Liverpool run riot to pile pressure on West Ham

THE Kop has a song for Mohamed Salah which goes to the tune of Sit Down, by 90s indie band James. The irony is that when the Egyptian magician gets the ball the effect is the exact opposite.

Salah, who scored the second and set up the first in another Liverpool romp, was again magnificent as Jurgen Klopp’s freescorers marched above Manchester United into second place.

The winger continues to make a mockery of Jose Mourinho’s decision to jettison him out on loan before he was eventually turfed out of Chelsea for about £15million.

Thirty one goals so far this season. Six in six. In freezing February, with plenty of football to be played, he has already matched Luis Suarez’s best-ever season tally for Liverpool. It is incredible stuff — but Klopp preferred to concentrate on the efforts of others.

‘Mo is a boy who is full of greed to score goals,’ said Klopp. ‘In football it is all about doing the right thing in the moment. I like Mo’s desire for goals but being fluent depends on all the players.’

Emre Can put Liverpool on their way on the half hour mark before Salah and Roberto Firmino made it three following the interval. Hammers substitute Michail Antonio pulled one back seconds after coming on but Sadio Mane restored predictable order.

‘I would have taken a 1-0, hit the post four times, Loris Karius 20 saves, whatever, because we need the points,’ said Klopp, who went on to praise the visitors’ battling qualities.

It is nothing new for a victorious manager to pay gushing tribute to vanquished opponents but Klopp was right to do so. West Ham were organised early on and, with Marko Arnautovic at his enterprising best, performed well in the first half before running out of answers to the red barrage.

West Ham face Swansea and Burnley next as their survival quest continues but manager David Moyes denied that this was a match they had written off. ‘I would never say this was a free hit because we drew with Arsenal, played well against Manchester City and beat Chelsea at home,’ said the West Ham manager. ‘We hoped to do similar here and in the first half we were close to it.’

After Salah hit a post early on, Arnautovic clipped an audacious, curling chip which Karius did well to tip on to the bar. ‘Genius strike, fantastic save,’ said Klopp. Moments later, a sliding Manuel Lanzini was inches away from connecting with Pablo Zabaleta’s volleyed cross.

On the 25th anniversary of the passing of Bobby Moore, the Hammers were putting in a defensive showing that the great man would have enjoyed. But after half an hour, their hard work was undone when Can rose easily above Patrice Evra — who was making his debut — at the far post to head in Salah’s inswinging corner.

West Ham refused to lie down and, three minutes before the break, Arnautovic was again acrobatically denied by Karius with another looping shot from distance.

These, however, are Liverpool’s Salah days and, after the break, the 25-yearold was at it again, this time capitalising on the relentless graft of Alex OxladeChamberlain, who won an unlikely ball in the Hammers area, to turn and fire into the bottom corner through Aaron Cresswell’s legs. That lethal left peg had struck again and effectively killed the game.

In the 57th minute it was three. This time Adrian, who had performed well in the West Ham goal, inexplicably came for Can’s ball over the top and totally missed it, leaving Firmino with the simple task of tapping into an empty net. The three-goal cushion lasted barely a minute when burly Hammers midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate won the ball and released Antonio, who had only been on the field for seconds and who finished well across Karius and into the bottom corner. It proved to be brief respite and succeeded only in prompting further waves of red attack. Mane hit a post from close range but made no mistake from even closer moments later, dinking in Andrew Robertson’s cross at the near post. The left full-back was again impressive and, Salah aside, could prove to be the bargain of the season following his £8m switch from Hull.

Liverpool wake up this morning ahead of United, who entertain Chelsea this afternoon. But Klopp said: ‘I would say we are not second. If Man Utd wins then we were second for a few hours. I don’t think United and Chelsea think too much about us but they know before the matchday that we are around.’

As the game ticked towards its inevitable conclusion there were mocking chants of ‘David Moyes is a football genius,’ from the Kop.

‘We made it as hard as we could for Liverpool to get through,’ he said. ‘The quick goals cost us. We got one back, it gave us a little sniff, but Liverpool were very good and are very much in form.’

Ex-Everton manager Moyes had not won in his 14 previous attempts at Anfield. His wait goes on.