Mohamed Salah finally ended his drought spell by scoring his 50th Premier League goal for Liverpool on Friday night as the Reds beat Southampton 3-1 at St Mary’s.
Nine games without a goal for the Egyptian had fans questioning whether he was lacking confidence heading into the game.
But in the 80th minute, following goals from Shane Long and Naby Keita, he proved he hasn’t lost his goalscoring touch.
Jordan Henderson’s knockdown from a Southampton corner saw Salah collect the ball and run the length of the pitch before emphatically beating Angus Gunn.
It was a stunning finish from Salah, who ignored Roberto Firmino and took on the shot himself, curling into the bottom-right corner courtesy of the post.
Speaking in a post-match interview alongside Henderson and Virgil van Dijk, the 26-year-old expressed relief at ending his drought and helping Liverpool to an important victory.
“After nine games [without scoring], I’m very happy to score a goal to help the team,” Salah told Sky Sports. “That’s the most important thing for us.
And when asked if he considered passing to Firmino, Salah replied: “Not at all! I think as a striker you need to score.
Salah’s goal put Liverpool 2-1 ahead and you could tell from the wild celebrations just how much it meant to the players.
Salah was so happy he removed his shirt to earn a yellow card, but the best part was the way he sold a ‘celebration dummy’ to Andy Robertson and Henderson.
In the video below, Liverpool’s star man ducks as Robertson goes to jump on him, leaving Robertson and Henderson to hug each other instead.
So smooth. Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for the Egypt international after the game and said there was no way he could have passed to Firmino.
“Salah could not pass for his goal,” said Klopp. “Go, go, go and a world-class finish. As a striker, you have chances and each striker is a human being.
Maybe you have better moments and less good moments, but he is pretty consistent, his physical things are always there. He always stayed calm to deal with the situation.”