Salah shows mean streak to new partner
MO SALAH’S ability to surprise Jurgen Klopp took an unexpected twist earlier this month when he showed a rare level of generosity.
In a friendly against RB Leipzig, Liverpool won a penalty and rather than march over and plant the ball on the spot, as is customary for the Egyptian, he handed responsibility to Darwin Nunez to give him the chance of an early confidence boost.
Nunez, obligingly, took possession and squeezed the spot-kick home.
The importance of getting off the mark was not lost on Salah, who five years earlier had got his Liverpool career up and running with a scruffy finish at Wigan.
Benevolence, however, only goes so far. In the final seven minutes of this season’s curtain raiser there was no chance of Salah repeating the gesture. Plenty question whether the Community Shield classes as a ‘proper’ trophy but there was nothing friendly about this clash between bitter rivals.
It is why Salah stood over the penalty spot in the 84th minute and adopted the same stance and levels of focus as he did when in a similar position in the second minute of the 2019 Champions League final. For all the barbs that came his way from Manchester City’s players, Salah wouldn’t be budged.
He paced back purposefully, did that little skip to the side and charged forward, sweeping his penalty into the far corner despite the best efforts of Ederson to deny him.
How Salah enjoyed it, racing towards Liverpool’s supporters through plumes of red smoke. He knew, almost certainly, that strike was going to be enough to settle the fixture and give the club their first victory in this game since 2006.
Nunez, introduced as a substitute, would go on to seal the victory, securing himself instant affection and the headlines. The performance of Salah, though, was just as significant, not least as it was the first ‘competitive’ game of the campaign and his first major appearance on these shores since he signed a contract extension on July 1.
Salah, who won the PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards last season, went fractionally off the boil in the closing weeks.
What was evident in Leicester was that Salah looks primed to begin this season like a bullet.
He was involved in the goal that opened the scoring, nudging a pass back to Trent Alexander-Arnold after he had been found by the outstanding Thiago Alcantara — Guardiola undoubtedly will have been furious that Salah was allowed so much time and space. City were not their usual selves in terms of how they press and try to win back possession but even in peak form they would have had their work cut out containing Salah in this mood and this performance merely underlined one thing.
For all the reshaping that has been done to Liverpool’s attack, with Sadio Mane leaving and Nunez arriving, the importance of making sure Salah is on board until 2025 cannot be understated. Salah makes a brilliant team world class and produces when it matters.
This penalty and assist will not be recorded in the official record books but try telling anyone that Salah’s efforts on this absorbing afternoon were for nothing. He is ready to go again and City know he will be pushing them all the way once more.