Mohamed Salah scored his 250th goal for Liverpool as the reigning champions ended their losing streak with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield.
Salah’s goal just before the end of the first half put Liverpool on course for victory after losing their last four Premier League games, but returning Ryan Gravenbirch deflected a shot early in the second half to secure a point.
Morgan Rodgers took advantage of Liverpool’s vulnerability and threatened to hit the post right in front of the Kop early on, but just before Villa had given them the lead, Hugo Ekitike’s goal was ruled out for offside and the home side had the upper hand throughout an entertaining game.
Despite Liverpool’s recent struggles with long balls, Unai Emery’s side were determined to pass out from the back and it cost them. Pau Torres slipped and Emi Martinez allowed a wayward pass to Salah, who took advantage of the mistake and slotted the ball into the goal.
It was Salah’s 250th goal in all competitions for Liverpool and his 276th Premier League appearance (188 goals and 88 assists), equaling English great Wayne Rooney’s single club record (183 goals and 93 assists for Manchester United).
Despite their recent struggles, this result moves Liverpool into third place in the Premier League table. Villa’s defeat ended their run of four consecutive wins in the competition and means they will fall back to the bottom half of the table following Saturday’s game.
Slott praises Salah as ‘unbelievable’
Liverpool manager Arne Slott said of Salah’s record in a press conference: “Yes, it’s amazing. If you score 250 goals for one club, it’s almost unbelievable. When you score 250 goals, it’s already unbelievable, especially for one club.”
“You don’t see that anymore in football. And aside from the goal he scored tonight, I think he performed very well because when we had to play long, we mainly played long towards him and he was able to hold onto the ball. That allowed the rest of the team to come to him and we were able to keep playing.”
“And what I liked was that he not only did a very good job offensively, but he also helped the team defensively. I think he was helping Virgil (van Dijk) around the halfway line after the 1-0 goal. And the combination of things like that led to the fact that I liked his performance tonight.”
“And of course it’s special for him to get 250 points. It’s not even that special for him to score because we all know that’s what he’ll always do.”
Salah: I’m very proud.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah told TNT Sports: “It’s a great feeling to score a goal and win a trophy for this big club. I don’t take it for granted. I’m very proud.”
“I’ve been playing football for many years. I said it’s going to be a difficult season for us because we have some new players, very good players signed, but we need time to adapt to the whole team. And we lost some good players too. We need time to adapt, get to know each other’s game and everything will fall into place.”
Emery: That was a big mistake.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery defended his team’s tactics against Liverpool despite giving Salah the lead.
“We are trying to use our personalities, play by our rules and have good positioning,” he said at a subsequent press conference.
“We passed the pass before Pau was in a position to pass it. It was easy for Salah. It was a big mistake, but it was part of our process. We are building a team here through the style we want to maintain in this process.”
“We have to avoid big mistakes like today trying to score first, but it’s part of our process and we’re trying to identify how to build. We feel strong.”
Emery also admitted that Tyron Mings suffered a hamstring injury late in the game, leaving Villa limping away with just 10 players having used all their substitute spots. “It’s a hamstring. Normally he would be out for a few weeks,” Villa admitted.
