LONDON – Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah wants to keep breaking records after another landmark goal secured a 1-0 victory over Brentford.
The Egypt international struck from close range in the 13th minute for his 30th of the season – the fourth time in six campaigns he has reached that mark – and his 100th goal at Anfield.
He became the first Liverpool player to score in nine successive home matches and in doing so went level with Steven Gerrard in fifth place in the club’s all-time goalscoring list with 186.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp hailed Salah after the striker’s winner against Brentford set a number of milestones and kept the Reds in the hunt for Champions League next season.
Salah struck from close range in the 13th minute to score for the ninth home game in a row, making it to 30 goals this season and a century of goals at Liverpool’s iconic stadium since he joined from Italian Serie A side AS Roma in 2017.
“The numbers he creates, we all know that after his career he will be seen as one of the all-time greats, that’s clear,” said the Reds boss.
“But now he is still in the career and some people might not appreciate him enough, but we do.
“He deserves all the praise he gets already and he will get even more after his career, that’s how it is, because in a club with the all-time greats we had in the past, being the first one who scores in nine consecutive home games is super-special,” Klopp explained.
“Scoring again 30 goals this season is super-special and setting up a lot of goals as well – he is so often involved in our goals, not only with the assist or the finish, very often with the second or third-last pass as well which is as important.”
“A lot of other players don’t appreciate people enough when they are still playing, and for us, it’s clear he’s an all-time great,” Klopp added.
“It means a lot to me. I said before, I feel (at) home here, I’m happy,” Salah told Sky Sports.
“It’s something that makes me proud, to be fair. I work really hard and everybody knows that, everybody sees that.
“I’m just motivated to keep breaking records and just scoring goals and winning games for the team.”
“I think we’ve improved a lot in the last couple of weeks. We’ve won six in a row and we have a few clean sheets, which is really important for us … I think we are more stable at the moment in the team,” goalscorer Salah said.
Though Manchester United is still in the driving seat in terms of Champions League qualification, Salah said his side has not given up on the idea of a top-four finish.
“We’ll take it game by game, we don’t want to look further, just game by game and we’ll see what will happen,” Salah added.
Klopp’s side is fifth in the table and still in with an outside chance of making it to the Champions League next season, and they need to keep winning just in case anyone above them slips up.
“It’s probably a little bit more exciting than a few teams wanted for us, it’s good that we could get into that region of the table again, but we have to make sure that we keep the teams behind us … nothing is decided,” he said as the season approaches its climax.
“We have three games to go and then, finally, a bit of a longer break, which is very helpful. You could see that – Brentford had a full week in between their games, we played three days ago,” Klopp said.
“It’s a massive difference, especially in the latter stages of the game, (but) the boys got through it, and I’m really happy about it.”
“Winning three in a row at home is absolutely special. It will not be a game the people in the stadium tell their grandchildren about but it’s a game (where) there was a lot to enjoy because the fight was exceptional,” added Klopp.
“The focus level the boys showed was exceptional, the concentration top and again a lot of good signs for us, and how we could look in the future.
“We have to do that more consistent, we have to learn, we have to adapt, but a lot of good signs and I am really pleased with that.”
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank felt his side deserved more from their display.
“I think, in many ways, we performed enough to get something from this game,” he said.
“I was very happy with the performance. The goal we could have done better in the second phase on a set-piece but besides that I thought we got better and better.”
Elsewhere, Manchester City continued their seemingly unstoppable charge towards a third consecutive Premier League title with a 2-1 victory over Leeds United on Saturday that put them four points clear of Arsenal.
Ilkay Gundogan scored a brace for Man City, but missed a late penalty that left manager Pep Guardiola enraged after the Spaniard had called for Erling Haaland to take it, with Leeds grabbing a goal back a minute later.
Harry Kane scored to lift Tottenham Hotspur to a much-needed 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, their first victory in five games, while Chelsea claimed their first win under interim manager Frank Lampard with a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth.
Man City had appeared to be cruising after Gundogan’s double strike put them in the box seat at the Etihad Stadium but the German’s missed penalty in the 84th minute set up a nervy finish as Rodrigo Moreno pulled a goal back for Leeds moments later.
While Gundogan was on a hat-trick, Guardiola was adamant there should be no room for sentiment and Haaland was the designated taker.
“The performance was excellent. We played really, really good,” Guardiola said. “Who knows if Erling takes the penalty and misses it? What happens if Gundo takes the penalty and scores? So the question is 2-0, who is the taker? The taker is Erling.”
