Liverpool rejected a £150million offer for Mohamed Salah in the summer from Al-Ittihad because he is priceless for the Reds.
His double in this hard-fought Merseyside derby win over Everton took his tally for the season to eight and he has netted or assisted in Liverpool ’s last 15 Premier League games. Salah also passed the 200-league goal mark for his career and he has moved ahead of Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard in netting his 105th Anfield goal to move fifth in the club’s all-time list.
He brings goals in their plenty for Liverpool and they badly needed him as Everton’s 10 men dug in and made life extremely difficult for Jurgen Klopp ’s side. The Reds finally made the breakthrough through Salah from the penalty spot in the 75th minute before the Egyptian king sealed the win in stoppage time.
Everton will feel hard done by and will question if Ashley Young deserved his dismissal for two yellow cards in the first half for fouls on Luis Diaz. They will also ask why Ibrahima Konate stayed on the pitch when he fouled Beto when he was already on a yellow. Sean Dyche can take heart from his side’s fighting qualities and they pushed the off-colour Reds all the way.
Jurgen Klopp will be pleased just to win and the victory took Liverpool top of the table. As good as Liverpool have been, they are still vulnerable at the back and Everton could have scored in the first 30 seconds when Dominic Calvert-Lewin planted his header from close range straight at Alisson.
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Despite dominating possession, Liverpool are lethal on the counter-attack thanks to their pace up front and Luis Diaz forced a save from Jordan Pickford from a shot which was half-blocked by Ashley Young. Everton’s defence stood firm under Liverpool’s growing pressure and Trent Alexander-Arnold shot against the Blue wall from a free-kick before Mohamed Salah curled a left-foot over from the right.
Mohamed Salah scored a brace for Liverpool against Everton (Getty Images)Pickford gathered Alexis MacAllister’s drive at the second attempt as Liverpool moved up through the gears. Everton’s task got even harder on 37 minutes when Young was sent off for bringing down Diaz just outside the area to receive a second booking and become the 29th player to be sent off in the 243rd playing of this fixture.
Young’s first caution for a foul on the tricky Diaz was harsh and it was only the second Premier League red card of the 38-year-old’s career. Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai fired just over while Dwight McNeil had a shot deflected just over in a rare threat to Alisson’s goal.
Dyche’s response at half-time was to baton down the Everton hatches. He brought on Michael Keane and Nathan Patterson and switched to a 5-3-1 formation. Everton held out and Jurgen Klopp responded by throwing on Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott as Liverpool tried to increase the pressure.
Mohamed Salah scored twice for Liverpool in their 2-0 win over Everton (Getty Images)Everton’s sense of injustice over Young’s red card grew when Konate escaped a second yellow for clipping Beto and Klopp wisely replaced him with Joel Matip. Everton escaped conceding a penalty when Patterson brought down Diaz in the box. Their good luck in front of goal ran out minutes later when Diaz crossed from the left and the ball struck the hand of the hapless Keane.
Pawson awarded the penalty after viewing it on the pitchside monitor and Salah made no mistake, ramming the ball home. The cheers which greeted Salah’s goal were as much relief as joy and this was far from being a vintage Reds display.
With the pressure off, Liverpool went close to a second when Elliott’s shot was touched onto the bar by Pickford. The second goal Liverpool needed to make sure came in the sixth minute of stoppage time when they broke upfield and Nunez fed Salah to slot home his eighth of the season.
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