LONDON — Mohamed Salah reached a remarkable milestone in the English Premier League, scoring his 100th goal at Anfield during a dominant 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town.
The forward’s strike marked his 19th league goal of the season and his 176th overall in the competition, which saw the Egyptian surpass Arsenal legend Thierry Henry to claim the seventh place on the league’s all-time scorers chart.
Liverpool’s triumph over Ipswich solidified their position at the top of the Premier League table, further highlighting their title credentials under manager Arne Slot.
Salah has also contributed 13 assists.
The forward’s goal also means he is now the second-highest-scoring overseas player in the competition’s history, behind only Sergio Agüero (184).
Alan Shearer is the Premier League’s all-time top scorer with 260 goals.
The 32-year-old talisman has been in inspired form for Slot’s table-topping side this season. “It’s nice to be asked about it because mostly about Mo, the questions are about his contract or his goals, but now it’s his defensive work-rate,” smiled Slot.
“I think that stood out today because we could all see the moment. If you look at almost all the times we have lost the ball, I saw a reaction off many players and that’s what you need against a team with fast wingers, with a good No 9 that goes to a low block.
“It’s so difficult to control a counter-attack and the only way to do it is what Mo did. That’s why I was pleased with the performance,” Slot added according to the Dailymail.co.uk.
Salah is out of contract at the end of the season and so far negotiations are in deadlock with the player repeatedly saying he thinks it is his last season at Anfield.
Second-placed Arsenal kept up the pressure as best they could by winning at Wolves 1-0, but third-placed Nottingham Forest was stunned by Bournemouth 5-0 in a hammering on the south coast.
Fourth-placed Newcastle came back from a goal down to beat Southampton 3-1, with Alexander Isak scoring twice.
Gakpo netted a second in the 66th minute as Ipswich wilted, and though they managed to pull a late goal back through Jacob Greaves, the Reds held on for a convincing victory.
“Everyone is in good form but we have to keep going,” Gakpo told the BBC, quickly putting aside an excellent performance that added three more points to their total.
Arsenal had to work a lot harder for their victory after Lewis-Skelly was sent off in the first half of their clash with Wolves, but substitute Riccardo Calafiori grabbed the winner with a superb half-volley in the 74th minute.
“It was clearly not a red card. I saw him (Lewis-Skelly) at halftime and he was so disappointed for the team, but in the end we won, so nothing happened,” Calafiori told Sky Sports.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta called on the Football Association to overturn Lewis-Skelly’s hugely controversial red card in the 1-0 win at Wolves, which kept his side six points behind Liverpool.
Lewis-Skelly, 18, became the third youngest player to be dismissed in Premier League history when he was shown a straight red card by Michael Oliver in the first half for taking down Matt Doherty in his own half.
The Gunners overcame adversity to win the game through Riccardo Calafiori’s 74th-minute goal – shortly after Wolves had also been reduced to 10 men when Joao Gomes was sent off.
Despite battling on to a crucial three points, Arteta was left less than impressed by the decision – which had been met with disbelief by pundits.
“I am absolutely fuming, but I leave it with you,” Arteta said.
“I think it is that obvious that we don’t need any comment today and hopefully the right thing will happen.
“OK, we were in a position that we shouldn’t be in – but at least let’s be in a position that we should be in for the next few weeks and allow that player to continue to his job.”
