Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has claimed that Mohamed Salah’s assist for Cody Gakpo this evening was ‘strange.’
Salah was a surprise starter for the Reds against LASK, with the Egyptian leading the team out as captain. But despite Liverpool creating a host of chances – and scoring two early goals – Mo failed to get on the scoresheet in the first-half.
That soon changed in the second period, with the 31-year-old cooly dispatching a penalty. But at half-time, Owen told TNT Sports that Salah will be ‘frustrated’ with his first-half blank, and commented on the weird pass for Gakpo’s tap-in.
“He’d be fuming if you took him off!” laughed the pundit. “You’d expect he’ll keep him on, hopefully he can get a goal and then Klopp will bring him off. Even if he plays game after game he comes out fresh as a daisy.
“He’ll be frustrated he hasn’t scored yet. He was involved in the second goal, it was kind of a strange pass, I was wondering if he meant it, I think he did.”
Salah puts it on a plate
Strange though Salah’s pass was – and it was a bit of a shank – it meant that the Egypt captain was involved in two Liverpool goals this evening.
Just as Owen predicted, Jurgen Klopp did indeed take his No.11 off shortly after he buried his penalty.
Had the game gone on a little longer without a Salah goal, it would have been interesting to see if Klopp had done the same.
MORE LIVERPOOL STORIES
There are games where you can just tell that Mo is desperate for a goal. With LASK opening up more than most teams who visit Anfield, that was certainly the case tonight.
Because although he does love an assist, goals are the Egyptian King’s bread and butter.
The penalty tonight puts him on 199 for Liverpool. With a game on home soil against Fulham on Sunday, you get the feeling Salah won’t have to wait long before beginning his second century.
In truth, he could have got it tonight. Had his finishing been a little more secure in the first-half, we’d be sitting here talking about another Mo milestone.
Instead, the wait for 200 will go on.
In terms of the assist for Gakpo though, Salah makes his mark by hook or by crook. It may not have been totally intentional, but he put it on a plate for the Dutchman regardless.