Liverpool’s Egyptian king Mo Salah produced a superb double to hand his team a 2-0 victory against Watford at Anfield and extend the Reds’ unbeaten start to the Premier League season to 17 games.
Salah finished a lightning-quick Liverpool break in the 38th minute at Anfield, collecting the ball on the run from Sadio Mane before cutting inside on the edge of the box and whipping it into the top corner with his right foot.
It was a sensational finish to a sublime move which involved each of Liverpool’s attacking trident, with Roberto Firmino starting the counterattack in his own half with an acrobatic pass to Mane, who fed the ball rapidly to Salah to do the rest.
Fans were left purring over the strike, which was Salah’s 83rd in a Liverpool shirt and moved him ahead of Luiz Suarez in the all-time Reds scoring charts – but still having played seven games fewer than the Uruguayan did for Liverpool.
Liverpool thought they had doubled their lead in the second half through Mane when he headed a Xherdan Shaqiri cross past Ben Foster, but the goal was disallowed for the tightest of offside margins on being checked by the VAR.
Both sides spurned good chances in an entertaining game, with bottom of the table Watford hitting the post from a late corner.
But it was Salah who put the game beyond doubt with a brilliantly improvised finish in the 90th minute.
After Divock Origi's scuffed shot came to him near the goaline, Salah flicked the ball between his legs, nutmegging the defender and sending it into the net.
The win for Jurgen Klopp’s men was their 16th in 17 Premier League games this season, and extended their lead over Leicester at the top of the table to 11 points before the remaining action over the weekend.
Liverpool now travel to the FIFA World Club Cup in Qatar, where they will play in the semifinal on Wednesday.
They will have to field a team of reserve and youth team players before that, however, as they meet Aston Villa in the Football League Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday night.
Liverpool fans have been buoyed by the news on Friday that Klopp has signed an extension to his contract which will keep him at Anfield until 2024, as the German bids to guide the team to their first league title in 30 years and add to last season’s Champions League glory.
If Salah and other members of their front three can continue to combine to devastating effect, Liverpool stand every chance of doing that.
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