It was the kind of goal The Kop has seen so many times over the years: Mohamed Salah cut off his left foot and found the top corner with a sizzling shot that beat the opposition goalkeeper in an instant.
Once again, the Egyptian got the three points for Liverpool with his 48th goal in the Premier League victory; only five players have more.
At 32, Salah may not be the prolific dribbler he once was, but he is fitter than ever (in pre-season, he ranked first in Liverpool’s fitness tests) and more capable than ever of providing the great moments.
On the weekend when Liverpool announced themselves as genuine title contenders under Arne Slot, it was again Salah who provided the key moment, a week after scoring the equalizer at Arsenal.
“This club belongs at the top of the table. Nothing less,’ was the title of Salah’s posts on social media.
Mo Salah overtook Robbie Fowler on the Premier League scoring charts in the 2-1 comeback win over Brighton on Saturday thanks to a sizzling top corner kick.
He is fitter than ever, continues to have a profound influence on games and is essential to Liverpool’s title fight.
Allowing free travel to Saudi Arabia in the summer is an unthinkable prospect
Slot described the goal as a ‘Mohamed Salah special’ on a day that felt like a throwback to the Jurgen Klopp era and it was undoubtedly Anfield’s best moment under Slot so far.
Brighton had done well to keep Salah quiet, but there was a sense of inevitability when he began running towards Pervis Estupinan, who until then had barely made a mistake.
The numbers are ridiculous. Of Liverpool’s 19 league goals this season, Salah has been involved in 12 (63 per cent), a higher proportion of a team’s goals than any other in the Premier League.
Since making his Liverpool debut in 2017, no one comes close to Salah’s 235 top-flight goals, followed by Harry Kane with 169. In Europe’s top five leagues, only Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappé have more. He is a generational great.
With his 164th Premier League goal on Saturday, Salah overtook the man they called ‘God’ at Anfield, Robbie Fowler (in 106 fewer games) to move eighth on the all-time scoring list and just 11 behind Thierry Henry and 13 by Frank. Lampard. There’s a good chance he’ll be in the top five when the campaign ends.
‘We shouldn’t lose sight of how massive (the records) are. Keep knocking them down. He will always be a legend,” said Joe Gomez.
On Merseyside, Salah has gone from a 25-year-old who always knew his potential to a man in his early 30s who knows he will be indisputably remembered as one of Liverpool’s greats.
With 55 goals involved since the start of last season, the fact that he was snubbed from the Ballon d’Or shortlist hasn’t gone unnoticed either.
For all the talk of a move to Saudi Arabia, Salah is still in his prime and, at the moment, the prospect of Liverpool letting him go for free next summer, when his contract expires, is unthinkable.
He has 55 involvements in goals since the start of last season. Should he have been mentioned in the Ballon d’Or race?
“No matter what happens, I will never forget what it feels like to score at Anfield,” Salah posted on Sunday.
A reminder that his future is still up in the air and a reminder, if ever needed, of the joy he has brought us.
Last season, Salah scored just three goals in the final 11 games of the Klopp era amid fitness problems after being injured with Egypt during the African Cup of Nations.
There were concerns then, but on Saturday he showed that his raw match-winning ability remains unmatched and if Slot’s Liverpool are to challenge for the title then a fit and active Salah will be a central part of that.