Mo Salah roared back to his brilliant best – firing a double as Liverpool cruised past Red Star Belgrade 4-0 to take control of Champions League Group C.
The prolific Egyptian finished a precise Xherdan Shaqiri pass after Roberto Firmino had given Jurgen Klopp’s men the lead before a second-half penalty, blasted down the middle, brought up his 50th goal for the club in just 65 games – faster than any player in the club’s history.
A delighted Jurgen Klopp paid tribute to Salah’s teammates. ‘I think he would say thanks to them!’ he said. ‘But it’s an exceptional number, hopefully he can continue.’
Salah, who scored a staggering 44 goals across all competitions last season, had been criticised for a relatively sluggish start to this campaign.
However, on a night the power went out in the main stand he put in an electric performance. The 26–year-old, however, was expressionless throughout and did not appear to show any emotion for both of his goals.
Klopp was not worried when asked if his talisman, who was substituted to a standing ovation, was happy. ‘He’s completely fine,’ he said. ‘It’s all good. I saw couldn’t see his face (when he scored) but I know he’s fine. I saw his face when I took him off - that was different!’
The German coach was delighted with his side’s performance. ‘It was a good football game to be honest,’ he said, ‘a deserved win - and that's all we wanted.’
Salah, who said he was ‘very proud’ to reach the landmark, promised that more was to come.
’I want to keep scoring and helping the team to win games,’ he said. Following the forward’s departure Sadio Mane made up for a missed penalty by netting a fourth as Liverpool overwhelmed the Red Star, whose supporters were banned from attending a one-sided Anfield clash for a pitch invasion at an August play-off in Salzburg.
The Serbians’ manager, Vladan Milojevic, congratulated Liverpool on a deserved victory.
He added: You’ll see what our supporters are like when you come to Belgrade.’
The result saw Liverpool bounce back from a disappointing late 1-0 defeat at the hands of Napoli to go top after the Italians drew 2-2 with Paris Saint-Germain in France.
‘It won’t be a big surprise for you to hear that I think we are not through yet,’ Klopp added.
‘This group stays exciting to the end. We can’t do more than keep winning our own games.’