Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah netted twice and assisted one goal, including bagging the first Premier League goal of 2024, as Liverpool beat Newcastle United 4-2 in a breathtaking six-goal thriller at Anfield on New Year’s Day.
The 31-year-old, who is bound to represent the Pharaohs at the Africa Cup of Nations later this month in Ivory Coast, opened the scoring for the Reds in the 49th minute before adding a second via a spot-kick in the 86th minute.
GET IN ???? pic.twitter.com/i2Fj4IxVRK
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 1, 2024
The game started brightly for the home side, and Liverpool should have gone into the halftime break ahead, but Luis Diaz’s effort was ruled offside, while Salah missed a penalty in the 23rd minute as Slovakian goalkeeper Martin Dubravka dove the right way to deny him.
Newcastle thought they had finally broken the deadlock through Dan Burn, but the Englishman’s header at the far post was cancelled as Swedish forward Alexander Isak was deemed offside in the buildup to the goal. Minutes later, Trent Alexander-Arnold came close to scoring the first goal of the game, but his otherworldly volley from outside the box failed to beat the woodwork.
The home side finally opened the scoring four minutes into the second half. After Liverpool broke away on the counterattack through Dominik Szoboszlai, the Hungarian midfielder found Diaz in space, who in turn played in Darwin Nunez, before the Uruguayan forward put the ball on a plate for Salah to tap into an empty net for the 150th goal of his Premier League career and his 13th of the season.
Liverpool came close to making it 2-0, but Dubravka was on hand to deny both Salah and Nunez on multiple occasions as the Reds’ frontline continued to cause trouble for the visitors.
However, amid Liverpool’s mounting pressure, Newcastle drew level thanks to a sublime finish from Isak, who was played in by Anthony Gordon, following some brilliant work on the left from English midfielder. Isak latched onto the through ball before curling a right-footed effort past Alisson and into the bottom right corner.
Salah was involved once again in helping Liverpool regain their lead, with the Egyptian dazzling on the right before playing in Diogo Jota, who put the ball on a plate for Curtis Jones to tap in for his first league goal of the season.
Fourteen minutes after coming on as a substitute, Dutch forward of Togolese-descent Cody Gakpo doubled the Reds’ advantage. The former PSV Eindhoven man bundled the ball into the net off a sublime outside of the foot cross from Salah, who got his league-leading eighth assist of the season.
Shortly after, another Dutchman was on target, but this time for Newcastle, as Sven Botman got his side’s second of the game with a glancing header into the bottom corner of Alisson’s goal.
The match was still up for grabs for both sides, but another moment involving Salah decided the game. The Liverpool No. 11 atoned for his earlier miss from 12 yards out, sending Dubravka the wrong way with an emphatic finish from the penalty spot after the goalie fouled Jota.
150 – Mohamed Salah has scored 150 Premier League goals for Liverpool, becoming just the fifth player to reach this milestone for a single club in the competition after Harry Kane (Tottenham), Sergio Agüero (Man City), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd) and Thierry Henry (Arsenal). Greats. pic.twitter.com/zOEoyhpz77
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 1, 2024
The six-goal thriller had the fingerprint of Salah all over it, with the Egypt international taking his season tally to 14 league goals, as he became only the fifth player to reach 150 league goals for a single club in the Premier League.
The win ensured Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the standings to three points as they prepare for life without Salah for the next few weeks. They will travel to the Vitality Stadium next to take on Bournemouth in their next league action on January 21.
