Salah reveals Kane motivation after Premier League Golden Boot win

By Sports Desk May 28, 2022

Mohamed Salah has revealed how missing out on the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2020-21 season, when Tottenham's Harry Kane pipped him by just one goal, motivated him to enjoy an incredible individual campaign for Liverpool this time around.

Salah finished as the Premier League's joint-highest goalscorer this season, matching Son Heung-min's tally of 23 goals as Liverpool finished just one point short of champions Manchester City.

The forward also edged out team-mate Trent Alexander Arnold by one league assist, laying on 13 goals to emulate Kane's feat of winning both awards in the 2020-21 campaign, as he led Liverpool's fight for silverware. 

Having already lifted the EFL Cup and FA Cup this season, Jurgen Klopp's team could add the Champions League when they face Real Madrid in Saturday's final, with the Egypt winger looking for revenge after sustaining an injury in Liverpool's 2018 defeat to the same opponents.

Speaking to Rio Ferdinand for BT Sport ahead of that contest in Paris, Salah revealed how missing out on topping the Premier League's goalscoring charts last season motivated him to "work like crazy" to outdo his fellow forwards this term.

"When I signed here, I can't say I thought 'I expect myself to go and win three golden boots!'", Salah said. "But in the first season [2017-18] I was fighting with Kane in the beginning, and I thought I had a big chance to win it.

"When I won it from Kane – and Kane was winning it [each of] the two years before – in the summer I went on holiday and said, 'look, why not?' I did it one time, I took it from Kane, a top goalscorer, so give it a try for a second one.

"I won it the second year, and once I won the second one, I said, 'you've got to go for four or five!' I think in my mind, for five years now I've always competed for it. I lost some, [like] last season in the last game to Kane.

"That last year was painful for me, trust me! It pushed me to be who I am now, this year. 

"I believe that last season as a team, it was not really good, but for the golden boot, in the last game, with one goal difference... that's not good.

"It didn't kill my summer, I was so motivated, I was working [like] crazy. I said 'look, next year I'm going to win both things – golden boot and assists. I'm going for both from now'. I was working like crazy and I did it."

Despite Liverpool finishing third last season after enduring an injury-hit campaign, Salah scored 22 league goals, only to see Kane net his 23rd in a final-day 4-2 win over Leicester City.

But the Liverpool star responded to win his third Golden Boot in five seasons this term, drawing level with Kane and Alan Shearer with three such awards. Only Thierry Henry, with four, has won more.

Related items

  • Jude Bellingham stars to send Real Madrid top of LaLiga Jude Bellingham stars to send Real Madrid top of LaLiga

    Jude Bellingham continued his fairytale start to life at Real Madrid with another starring role in a 3-0 victory at LaLiga surprise packages Girona.

    Bellingham’s superb assist allowed Joselu to open the scoring and, after Aurelien Tchouameni had made it 2-0, the England midfielder wrapped things up with his seventh goal for the Spanish giants.

    Real’s victory, soured by Nacho Fernandez’s red card, was their seventh in eight league matches and saw them return to the top of the table while Girona fell to third after their first defeat of the campaign.

    Athletic Bilbao remain in fourth despite crumpling to a chastening 3-0 loss at Real Sociedad.

    Robin Le Normand opened the scoring while second-half strikes from Takefusa Kubo and Mikel Oyarzabal sealed a commanding victory for a Sociedad side that moved them up to sixth.

    Radamel Falcao struck from the spot in the 12th minute of stoppage time as Rayo Vallecano claimed a 2-2 draw against Mallorca while Alex Baena saw red as Villarreal were held to a 0-0 draw at Getafe.

    Serie A leaders Inter Milan returned to winning ways after Lautaro Martinez came off the bench to score four times in a 4-0 win at Salernitana.

    The Nerazzurri, who slipped to a first loss of the campaign at home to Sassuolo in midweek, initially struggled to break down Salernitana but Martinez’s 55th-minute introduction changed the picture.

    He scored in the 62nd, 77th, 85th – from the spot – and 89th minutes as Inter quickly moved back above city rivals AC Milan, who earlier turned on the second-half style to record an impressive 2-0 win over Lazio.

    Christian Pulisic and Noah Okafor were on target to finally end stubborn Lazio resistance at the San Siro, but Rafael Leao was the star attraction as he set up both goals.

    Defending champions Napoli emphatically ended Lecce’s 100 per cent home record in the league with a 4-0 victory at the Stadio Via del Mare.

    Goals from Leo Ostigard and substitutes Victor Osimhen and Gianluca Gaetano had the visitors in control before Matteo Politano converted a penalty in added time.

    Paris St Germain were thwarted by their former academy goalkeeper Mory Diaw as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Ligue 1 basement side Clermont.

    Luis Enrique’s side would have gone top with victory at Stade Gabriel Montpied, but could not find a way past an inspired Diaw, who began his career in PSG’s youth set-up.

    Monaco are the early frontrunners in the French top-flight but they twice had to come from a goal behind to see defeat Marseille 3-2.

    Iliman Ndiaye and Samuel Gigot put Marseille ahead but Maghnes Akliouche and Folarin Balogun equalised inside a frantic first 24 minutes. Akliouche had the final say eight minutes into the second half.

    Harry Kane was on target as Bayern Munich came from two goals down draw 2-2 at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.

    Leipzig struck early through Lois Openda and Castello Lukeba but Kane and Leroy Sane replied in the second half to earn the reigning champions a point.

    But the draw saw Thomas Tuchel’s men end the day in third, two points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

    Leverkusen recorded a 3-0 win at rock-bottom Mainz, courtesy of Sepp van den Berg’s own goal, plus second-half strikes from Alex Grimaldo and Jonas Hofmann.

    Deniz Undav bagged a second-half brace as second-placed Stuttgart defeated Cologne 2-0 while there were also wins for Heidenheim, Wolfsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach.

  • Substitute Lautaro Martinez scores all four goals as Inter see off Salernitana Substitute Lautaro Martinez scores all four goals as Inter see off Salernitana

    Lautaro Martinez scored four times after coming off the bench as Inter Milan returned to winning ways and the top of Serie A with a 4-0 victory at struggling Salernitana.

    Inter, who slipped to a first loss of the campaign at home to Sassuolo in midweek, initially struggled to break down a Salernitana side that had not managed to win any of their previous six matches.

    Martinez’s entrance in the 55th minute proved key and he broke the deadlock just after the hour, although Inter were grateful that Mateusz Legowski saw an equaliser chalked off for offside.

    Martinez struck again and then completed a 23-minute hat-trick from the penalty spot before the Argentinian took his tally for the season to eight goals as Inter went back above city rivals Milan, who beat Lazio on Saturday.

    Marcus Thuram had an early sight at goal but Salernitana keeper Guillermo Ochoa made a comfortable save while Alexis Sanchez and Denzel Dumfries were unable to direct their efforts on target.

    Salernitana steadily grew into the encounter and Boulaye Dia tested Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who then had to get down low to keep out Grigoris Kastanos’ strike from distance.

    The hosts ended the half on top and Inter’s listlessness in the final third after the interval prompted Simone Inzaghi to introduce Martinez, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Kristjan Asllani also brought on.

    Martinez needed just seven minutes to make his presence felt as a low ball into his path from Thuram required a delicate chip to beat the advancing Ochoa and put Inter ahead.

    They were almost immediately pegged back as Agustin Martegani’s perfectly-weighted through ball saw Lęgowski dash in to score what he thought was his first Serie A goal, only to be ruled offside on replay.

    Inter got a gift as they doubled their lead as Ochoa’s throw caught Domagoj Bradaric unaware and the Croatian was dispossessed by Dumfries before the ball was worked to Nicolo Barella, whose cut back allowed Martinez to slam home in the 77th minute.

    Salernitana’s plight worsened as Thuram turned away from Matteo Lovato before being hauled down in the area, allowing Martinez to step up and complete his hat-trick in the 89th minute.

    Martinez was still not finished and completed a miserable second half for Salernitana with another first-time finish after being teed up by Carlos Augusto.

  • Jurgen Klopp questions pressure on VAR officials after error denies Reds goal Jurgen Klopp questions pressure on VAR officials after error denies Reds goal

    Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp questioned the pressure being put on officials after the Professional Game Match Officials Limited vowed to investigate the decision to rule out a Luis Diaz goal in the Reds’ dramatic 2-1 loss at Tottenham.

    Diaz looked to have put Liverpool ahead in the 34th minute when he raced on to Mohamed Salah’s through ball and rifled into the bottom corner of the net, but the offside flag was immediately raised.

    A VAR check by Darren England in Stockley Park occurred, with screens inside the stadium informing supporters, but play was able to quickly resume with the effort remaining offside.

    Referees’ body PGMOL has since acknowledged a “significant human error” occurred and that VAR “failed to intervene” to prevent the error.

    Liverpool went on to finish the match with nine men and suffered stoppage-time heartbreak when Joel Matip deflected Pedro Porro’s cross into his own net in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but the post-match discussions focused on the crucial first-half error.

    “Who does that help now? We had that situation in the Wolves-Man United game. Did Wolves get the points? No,” Klopp reflected when informed of the PGMOL statement.

    “We will not get points for it so it doesn’t help. Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions on field but we all thought when VAR comes in that it might make things easier.

    “I don’t know why the people…are they that much under pressure? Today the decision was made really quick I would say for that goal. It changed the momentum of the game, so that’s how it is.”

    After a breathless start at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Liverpool were reduced to 10 men in the 26th minute when Curtis Jones was sent off following a VAR review.

    Jones caught Yves Bissouma with a high, studs-up tackle on his shin that initially earned him a yellow card but referee Simon Hooper upgraded the decision to a red card after he used the pitchside monitor to review the incident.

    Diaz found the net six minutes later, but after it was ruled out Tottenham went ahead when captain Son Heung-min tapped home from Richarlison’s centre in the 36th minute.

    Cody Gakpo levelled for Liverpool on the verge of half-time but Klopp’s problems mounted when Diogo Jota was dismissed midway through the second half following two fouls on Destiny Udogie in quick succession.

    It meant Liverpool had to play the final 21 minutes in north London with nine men and their stubborn resistance was finally broken when Porro’s dangerous cross was diverted past Alisson by Matip.

    Klopp added: “I told the boys after the game I am super proud and especially with 10 men they were really good. They did everything that is necessary and on top of that we were courageous.

    “I don’t think there is anything to say about the offside goal. I knew at half-time.

    “In the first moment I thought it was clear offside but then it is right to think they have a better view and at half-time we knew with normal pictures. Easy to see, no offside.

    “But I am pretty sure whoever did make that decision did not make it on purpose. It didn’t take extremely long to come to the conclusion, that is a bit strange, but someone else has to clarify that.”

    Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, was happy to accept the rub of the green with the Diaz ruled out effort but highlighted that VAR will never be “errorless” after he watched his team’s unbeaten record stretch to seven matches in the Premier League.

    He said: “I think I’m on record as saying that I’ve never really been a fan of it since it came in. Not for any other reason than I think that it complicates areas of the game that I thought were pretty clear in the past.

    “We used to understand that errors were part of the game, including officiating errors. You’d have to cop it and some people would cop it better than others but that was part of the game.

    “The game is littered with historical refereeing decisions that weren’t right but we all accepted it that it was part of the game because we’re dealing with human beings.

    “I think that people are under the misconception that VAR is going to be errorless.

    “So much of our game isn’t factual. It’s down to interpretation and they’re still human beings. They’re going to make mistakes the same way managers make mistakes, the same way players make mistakes.

    “When you put such a high bar on something it invariably is going to fail, so if people are thinking that VAR is going to be something that at some point that is perfect, that’s never going to happen.”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.