Liverpool just proved Pep Guardiola right as title race takes huge twist
Liverpool verdict from Ian Doyle after Reds maintain momentum and beat Norwich 3-1 in Premier League while Manchester City lose.
They say the best forwards possess the ability to seemingly make time stand still before delivering their devastating blow.
And Liverpool will surely wish they could preserve Mohamed Salah in his present state for many years to come.
The Egyptian was never going to reach the latest landmark of an astonishing Reds career in mundane fashion. That just isn’t his style.
But the manner in which Salah notched his 150th goal for the club demonstrated just why the clamour for an agreement over his new contract grows among supporters with every week the deal remains unsigned.
There was still plenty to do when the forward, sprinting away from Kenny McLean, plucked Alisson Becker’s long, searching pass out of the Anfield sky.
Salah, though, wouldn’t be rushed. First he held off the challenge of Norwich City Ben Gibson. Then he turned away from visiting goalkeeper Angus Gunn, who had raced to the edge of his area.
And finally, with Max Aarons and Grant Hanley having sprinted back to defend the goalline, the Liverpool man calmly rolled the ball into the one area of the net that remained unguarded.
Only Roger Hunt, who reached the landmark after 226 games, has scored 150 goals for Liverpool in quicker time than the 233 matches Salah required to reach the figure. In that sense, the Egyptian isn’t one to hang about.
“A really cheeky one,” said Klopp of the forward’s latest entry in a glittering goalscoring canon.
And it was the culmination of a whirlwind five second-half minutes that transformed a game from threatening one of the shocks of the season to merely being the latest example of how Liverpool keep finding ways of getting the job done – the value of which was demonstrated by Manchester City dropping points mere hours later.
Certainly, the “pain in the a**” isn’t getting any better for Pep Guardiola.
A pivotal day in the title race? Liverpool now have control of their own destiny again.
Norwich, struggling against relegation but finding some good recent form under manager Dean Smith, had absorbed first-half Liverpool pressure before taking the lead three minutes after the break when a Milot Rashica shot deflected in off the unlucky Joel Matip.
Anfield bristled, unhappy at what they were seeing. But, as at Inter Milan on Wednesday, Klopp’s side benefited from changes from the bench, an astute tactical shift and a rousing second-half showing from Jordan Henderson.
Thiago Alcantara and Divock Origi’s arrival on 62 minutes prompted a switch to a 4-4-2 formation that gave greater freedom to the attacking triumvirate of Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz. All three would go on to score.
The contribution of Mane, who started down the centre in the absence of injured duo Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino, was perhaps the most crucial, dragging Liverpool level two minutes after the substitutions when executing a fine overhead kick from close range after Kostas Tsimikas had headed down Henderson’s deep cross.
Suddenly, Liverpool had momentum, belief and, in a revived home support, fierce backing that grew louder with Salah’s strike.
