Mohamed Salah scored a brace for Liverpool on Sunday but it wasn’t enough to earn the hosts all three points against Tottenham in an Anfield thriller.
Salah opened the scoring in the third minute and then gave the Reds the lead again in the 91st minute after Victor Wanyama levelled proceedings.
However, Harry Kane – who had his first penalty saved with the score tied at 1-1 – dispatched his effort from the spot at the second time of asking with virtually the last kick of the game to make it 2-2 at the final whistle.
STATISTICS
Goals – 2
Assists – 0
Shots – 4
Shots on target – 2
Touches – 46
Passes – 22
Aerials won – 0
Key passes – 1
Dribbles – 4
Dispossessed – 3
17/18 PL Player of the year, hands down, Mohamed Salah. pic.twitter.com/wjQa8ZSF6f
— eazy (@acmilan_eb) February 4, 2018
30-SECOND REPORT
Salah has excelled at Liverpool since his arrival from Roma over the summer. He’s been in superb goal-scoring form all season and continued his phenomenal form in front of goal against Spurs.
The Egyptian registered his 20th and 21st goals of the Premier League campaign this season, first giving his side an early lead by tucking his finish away in the third minute.
Liverpool had set up with a compact midfield three and relied on the directness of their three forwards to hurt the visitors and Salah was an excellent avenue in attack, making darting runs every time possession was turned over.
He regularly drifted into central positions, causing the centre-backs all sorts of problems and did well to close down the opposition’s back-line without the ball.
In the closing stages, Salah was a key outlet on the counter-attack and when the hosts went in search of a winner, he produced a moment of magic to put them ahead.. momentarily.
GOT RIGHT
Movement – Salah was never caught on his heels. He was always the first to react every time Liverpool won the ball and the break away was on. He was alert enough to pounce for the opener and seemed to pop up in pockets of space in central areas as well.
Finishing – Scored a brace from four shots. He took his first chance with aplomb, calmly slotting his finish into the far corner with only the keeper to beat and left four defenders for dead with a little shimmy before lifting it over Hugo Lloris to make it 2-1.
GOT WRONG
Final ball – On two or three occasions, Salah ran at the Spurs defence with options for a pass but he either failed to find his man or picked the wrong option, failing to make the most of the opportunities.
Positioning – While his runs in behind were good and he drifted into the centre effectively, he rarely hugged the touchline and in narrowing his side’s attack, the likes of Roberto Firmino were often denied space to operate in.
KEY MOMENTS
3rd min GOAL: Eric Dier tries to stab a loose ball back to Davinson Sanchez but it rolls past the defender and through for Salah who composes himself and slots it past Loris Karius expertly.
8th min PASS: Salah steals the ball of Dele Alli and tries to feed Mane in space but his pass is not accurate and is intercepted by Sanchez.
19th min SHOT: Spurs clear a corner but Trent Alexander-Arnold’s effort from distance goes through a sea of bodies and while Salah gets a touch on it, his connection isn’t good enough to direct it towards goal.
32nd min DELIVERY: Salah is fouled by Jan Vertonghen and from the ensuing free-kick, whips it into the box for Virgil van Dijk but the Dutchman’s header is off target.
77th minute CHANCE: On the counter-attack, Salah finds space to run into again but fails to find Firmino who joins him on the break away and the chance goes begging.
91st minute GOAL: A piece of brilliance from Salah as he leaves four defenders in his wake before showing great composure to lift his finish over the keeper.
Mohamed Salah
VERDICT
His relentless pursuit for goals have become a welcome habit. He’s now raced to 27 goals in all competitions for the club in his first season at Anfield. He was a constant threat throughout the game and always looked the most likely player to score the next goal.
His finishing was on point and he showed his class with the second goal in particular. Had he been a little more precise with his final ball though, he could’ve put Liverpool out of sight, denying Spurs a way back into the game.
RATING: 9/10
All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com
