Mohamed Salah smashed home the penalty to complete the Liverpool turnaround and picked up the most joyous booking of the season as he celebrated shirtless with those singing his name in the away end. They were scenes reminiscent of a Friday night at this venue five years ago, when a stunning breakaway goal had Reds fans believing that finally the Premier League title was going to be theirs.
And while it was ultimately not quite to be that season as Jurgen Klopp’s side finished as runners-up with 97 points, a 3-2 victory against rock-bottom Southampton here means there is a growing belief this time around that Arne Slot’s team can sustain their efforts after going eight clear of a Manchester City side veering into crisis territory.
Two more goals for Salah, which came after Adam Armstrong and Mateus Fernandes had cancelled out Dominik Szoboszlai’s opener, have taken him up to 12 for the campaign as he registered his 100th away effort for the Reds and 300th of his entire career in the process. Some player.By now, the calls for the club to wrap up his new contract are nothing new on these pages but it bears repeating that the Egyptian can speak to clubs outside of England about a free transfer next summer in just five weeks’ time.
The 32-year-old only has eyes for Anfield presently but the inertia is unsettling for a fanbase desperate to see pen put to paper.Salah spoke during the international break about the need to discard what he feels is a collective inferiority complex, telling official club channels: “I hate the idea that we’re underdogs. No! We have an incredible group. In each position you’re going to find a player who is really one of the top three in the world. So, why don’t we win it?”
“For me, with the offside and deciding if a ball is either inside or outside the area, that is just black or white,” said Slot. “It was a foul, that was clear. So if they saw it was inside then it’s a penalty.
“Sometimes with a knock, it can be ‘yes or no’, or a red card. There was an incident in the first half (when Adam Lallana was booked for fouling Ryan Gravenberch) where you could argue that is a red card
If that was something of a gentle nudge towards what the ambitions of this increasingly intriguing campaign should really be, then his charge towards the away end after his match-winning penalty here was a far more demonstrative way of getting across his point.‘yes or no’. Those things you can argue.
“But offside and inside or outside the 18-yard box is something you cannot argue. But it was a small margin – like our whole season.”
