Big players have this knack for exacting revenge at the right time. Mohamed Salah did that on Lisandro Martinez on Sunday.
As if the 7-0 humiliation — Liverpool’s biggest-ever win over Manchester United — were not enough, the way Salah left the Argentine World Cup winner sprawled on his back is something Martinez would not forget easily.
Five minutes into the second half, with Liverpool leading 1-0 against Manchester United, Anfield’s Egyptian talisman was released one-on-one with only Martinez to try and stop him.
The Liverpool star twisted and turned, leaving the diminutive defender sprawling on the ground, and moved the ball for Cody Gakpo to dink it over an onrushing United goalkeeper David de Gea. The sight of Martinez on the ground was such a telling blow to the morale of the visiting players that they went on to let in five more.
In the first leg at Old Trafford in late August last year, Salah was kept silent by the Argentine. Yes, he did manage to score one but that match was all about the United bravehearts, with Martinez producing a headline-grabbing performance. Whether a shoulder-to-shoulder barge with or putting himself on the line of the ball, Martinez was an outright winner against Salah.
On Sunday, it was the Egyptian’s turn to show who is the boss. The way he got his first and Liverpool’s fourth, volleying home from the top of the penalty box with disdain, giving De Gea hardly a chance to move, was simply brilliant. Every time he had the ball one could sense something special was going to happen. And it did. The ghost of the August clash at Old Trafford was buried.
In the second leg of the 2015 Champions League semi-final, Lionel Messi, then with Barcelona, had a chance to prove a point against Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich. That Bayern side had a clutch of German players who had had the last laugh against Argentina in the World Cup final a year before.
Messi chose Camp Nou as the place to give it back. He picked out Jerome Boateng who had had a brilliant World Cup final. The Argentine swerved and turned and made Boateng eat grass before lobbing it over goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, another 2014 hero, to get his and Barcelona’s second in the 3-0 rout. It was something similar on Sunday between Salah and Martinez.
Salah, on Sunday, also reached 129 goals for Liverpool in the Premier League, taking him past the mark of former England player Robbie Fowler. Salah, who scored his first goal for Liverpool in 2017, however, took 61 games fewer than Fowler.
“I cannot describe it. This is one of the best days of my life, and I broke the record that I was seeking from the time I came to the club,” Salah told beIN Sports.
“We entered the match, and our goal was to win... Everyone was hungry to score, and we scored seven and I hope this will give us a boost, not excessive confidence... and also we can continue to win until we end the season in the top-four.”
There is more. He’s the first player in Liverpool’s history to score in six successive matches against United. Also, Salah now has 10 Premier League goals against United, the same number as former Blackburn and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer --- the most by any player against the Red Devils. Salah’s double took him past Liverpool great Steven Gerrard, Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) and Thierry Henry (Arsenal), who all had eight league goals against United.
Sunday also gave an indication that the trio of DarwinNunez, Gakpo and Salah are finally gelling together. All three scored twice each and Sarah said later he wanted Roberto Firmino and DiogoJota also to pile on United’sagony. And his wish came true when Firmino got the seventh. In a season when every team looked forward to three points against a struggling Liverpool, this thumping win could be the game-changer.
Salah and Liverpool will now train their guns on Real Madrid next midweek where Juergen Klopp’s men seek to turn around the first-leg 5-2rout. Salah, as usual, will be the key at the Bernabeu, and as Klopp said, “Mo is Mo”. Madrid surely will have their task cut out.
