Mohamed Salah ignored the Saudi Arabian spotlight focused on him with a goal and an impressive all-round performance in Liverpool’s comfortable 3-0 Premier League rout of Aston Villa which showed his commitment and desire has not wavered.
A rejected £150million bid from Al-Ittihad on Friday merely sparked reports the Pro League champions would return with a world-record offer – with their transfer window open until Thursday – but while the speculation continues, the Egypt international got on with what he is good at.
This was his 188th goal in 308 appearances, 139th in 222 Premier League matches, his seventh in seven games against Villa and the 150th different game in which he had found the target.
His close-range poacher’s finish at a corner made the result safe but even with the game won inside an hour, he was still chasing lost causes on an afternoon when scorching temperatures inside Anfield resembled Saudi Arabia on one of its cooler days.
But while Salah provided the killer blow with the third goal, the architect of the victory was Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose corner saw Dominki Szoboszlai open the scoring with his first goal for the club and then a clever whipped pass over the top released Salah – which ultimately resulted in a Matty Cash own goal.
However, the sight of him limping off and straight down the tunnel with 20 minutes to go will be of some concern as manager Jurgen Klopp has no one else who can do what he currently does.
Klopp himself marked his 300th Premier League match with his 188th victory, losing just 43, but as he stressed in his programme notes when urging fans not to sing his song until after the final whistle, the focus was on the players.
This was only the second of seven league matches Liverpool had won without Virgil Van Dijk, currently suspended, but wearing the armband in his place, local lad Alexander-Arnold led by example.
However, even he could not have anticipated his third-minute corner reaching Szoboszlai untouched by anyone but the Hungary captain, who arrived from RB Leipzig with a reputation for scoring from distance, made sure the right-back got full value for his delivery.
As the ball dropped to him on the edge of the box the 22-year-old hit a sweet, controlled left-footed shot which, on its way back also evaded the crowd to nestle inside the returning Emi Martinez’s left-hand post.
Alexander-Arnold was the instigator of Liverpool’s second but it was the helping hand from Salah, for whom the Kop sang their first song in the 10th minute, chasing his brilliant pass with greater determination than Pau Torres which presented the chance for Nunez.
The Uruguay international scuffed a shot against the post but the rebound went in off the unfortunate Cash.
Liverpool’s right-back-cum-playmaker should have had another assist when he opted to cross a free-kick in prime shooting territory only to find the worst possible option in Joel Matip, whose free header never even threatened the target.
Villa – who lost Diego Carlos to injury midway through the first half – saw John McGinn and substitute Leon Bailey (twice) miss their best chances but the final 20 minutes of the first half was played in a bizarre atmosphere with the visitors sitting off, Liverpool at walking pace and the crowd subdued.
Nunez can always be relied upon to liven things up though and he smashed a shot against the crossbar from the narrowest of angles after the offside Salah’s clever decision not to chase Alexander-Arnold’s ball over the top.
Early in the second half, Alisson Becker parried away Cash’s close-range header on the line before Salah broke down the right, leaving the collapsing Lucas Digne in his wake, to produce a sublime outside-of-the-left-foot cross to the far post – which Nunez somehow managed to bundle wide.
But Salah was not to be denied and from Andy Roberton’s 55th-minute corner, Nunez flicked on the ball to the far post for the Egyptian to blast home from close range for the biggest cheer of the day.
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
