Prior to his side’s Champions League semi-final tie against Roma, Jurgen Klopp commented that his star player, Mohamed Salah, had “still a few yards to go.” Tonight, in English football’s European city, he went an extra mile.
The Egyptian’s performances throughout the season saw him pick up the PFA Player of the Year award this weekend, but here he took his supreme talent to an even bigger stage, scoring goals which edge Liverpool closer to the biggest European club game of them all.
His former side did manage to claw a couple of goals back after he was substituted with fifteen minutes to go, but Eusebio Di Francesco’s men still have a mountain to climb in the second leg.
Salah’s two finishes, and his performance, were comparable to only one other player currently playing the game — Lionel Messi. Cutting in from the right onto his left foot into attacking positions, his first shot from outside the area was placed about as close to the top corner as it’s possible to get, and his second was a chipped over Brazil No 1 Alisson, dribbling into the goal as defenders watched helplessly.
As the goals came against the club which saved him from his Chelsea nightmare, neither was celebrated, other than a slight twitch of joy after the second. Both were scored in front of the Roma fans, but the rest of the players more than made up for it along with the Liverpool supporters as Anfield rumbled on its historical foundations.
Salah’s performances will become part of this history whether Liverpool reach the final or not, but if their No 11 plays like this in the second leg then they will definitely be going to Kiev at the end of May.
This time the coolest of dinks over the keeper! 😎
Goal number 43 of the season 😳
Roma did manage a miraculous comeback from three goals down against Barcelona in their quarter-final, having lost the first leg 4-1, but Salah, perhaps annoyed at not being able to celebrate, decided to start laying on the goals for others in an attempt to end this tie early.
He put them on a plate for Sadio Mane, who had missed a few chances earlier on, and Roberto Firmino, with the latter adding the fifth when he headed in James Milner’s corner
Roma and their fans will have to respond in the second leg, and their players gave them something to cling on to with two late goals. But still, Liverpool have set the bar so high it might be unreachable.
The deafening noise in and around Anfield before the game rose a level after kick-off, and who could blame the players for a slightly shaky start in this atmosphere.
Liverpool were buzzing, drawing energy from the crowd which made them a little too eager once they found themselves in attacking positions. Roma looked nervous, and their back three looked like they were running in mud against Salah and Mane.
If Firmino had controlled the ball with a little more tightly when put through in the game’s opening stages, he may have set this rout off even earlier, but a stray touch narrowed the angle and his shot skimmed along the goal line.
There were several efforts from distance which tested both goalkeepers in the wet conditions, and one particular strike from the well-known left boot of Aleksandar Kolarov had Liverpool's Loris Karius flapping.
The ball came out to the left wing-back who let rip with a powerful effort, and Karius, perhaps expecting the ball to move in the air, didn't follow its path and only got the faintest of touches, which was still just enough to divert it onto the crossbar.
Then came Mane's misses. The Senegalese did Federico Fazio for pace around the half-way line, but had lost his composure by the time he reached the area, sending his shot over the bar.
A chance to atone for the miss came shortly after, but he miscued his first-time shot from Firmino's pass, sending his shot into the Anfield Road end for a second time.
Salah then showed him how to finish, finding the top corner with his first and dinking over Roma goalkeeper Alisson when through one-on-one for his second. Both were assisted by Firmino who pulled the three centre backs out of position throughout.
@rioferdy5 can't believe how Eusebio Di Francesco set his Roma side up at Anfield 🙈
Salah then handed Mane one chance he couldn’t miss, doing the same for Firmino shortly after.
He was unplayable, and if games can ever be defined by one player, then this was one. The Salah Semi...
There were a few negatives for Liverpool, not least the conceding of two goals within the final ten minutes. The first came following the familiar sight of Dejan Lovren misjudging the flight of the ball in the air, with Edin Dzeko lurking behind him, slotting home unopposed.
The second came from the penalty spot after Milner was adjudged to have handled the ball as a shot came in. Diego Perotti coolly stroked the ball into the top corner.
But perhaps more worrying for Liverpool was the injury picked up by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain which saw him stretchered off in the first half. Not a good sight, especially with a World Cup approaching, and especially given Klopp’s side could have done with him in the coming weeks.
Liverpool still have a job to do in Rome, and their manager will emphasise this fact in the next week, but his side have more than a foot in the final thanks to a fairytale performance from the man they signed from Roma at the start of the season.
