Mo Salah has scored lots of goals for Liverpool – 223, to be precise – but few would’ve felt quite as massive as the two he plundered against Southampton today.
The Reds were trailing 2-1 with 20 minutes gone in the second half and facing the prospect of failing to capitalise on Manchester City’s defeat to Tottenham on Saturday when the Egyptian swung the match in his team’s favour with the equaliser, which capped off a brilliant pass from Ryan Gravenberch.
Then, in the 83rd minute, the 32-year-old held his nerve from the penalty spot to fire past Alex McCarthy for what eventually proved to be the winning goal.
As he ran towards the travelling Liverpool fans after dispatching the spot kick, Salah whipped off his shirt in jubilation – eliciting echoes of his strike against Manchester United at Anfield in January 2020 – and that was just one eye-catching sight among the celebrations from the Reds players.
Fan footage from the away end at St Mary’s captured screams of exultation from both Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez, a joyous gesture from Conor Bradley, a topless Egyptian King lapping up the supporters’ acclaim and Luis Diaz handing the number 11 jersey back to him.
Salah is now up to 10 Premier League goals this season – the eighth successive top-flight campaign in which he’s hit double figures – and curiously this was the first match of 2024/25 in which he scored more than once (Transfermarkt).
That statistic highlights the incredible consistency of the Liverpool winger, whose contract situation remains precarious, hence the pleas from Jamie Carragher to FSG to ‘give him his dough’ and prevent the risk of him leaving on a free transfer next year.
Had the Reds dropped points at Southampton today – a scenario which looked likely early in the second half – it would’ve represented a real missed opportunity after City’s thrashing yesterday, and ahead of the top two clashing at Anfield in a week’s time.
Thanks in no small part to Salah, Arne Slot’s men took full advantage of their rivals’ slip-up to extend their lead at the Premier League summit to eight points. That winning goal on the south coast was huge, and the players knew it, as was evidenced in how they celebrated it!
You can view Salah and his teammates celebrating below, via @drwnunez on X:
— hae (@drwnunez) November 24, 2024
The post (Video) Watch as Liverpool players celebrate Mo Salah’s winner in front of jubilant away end appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
