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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Ian Doyle

Liverpool king sends clear message as supporters celebrate real royalty

All hail the Egyptian King. With a typical sense of timing, Mohamed Salah chose coronation day to further underline why the crown continues to fit perfectly at Liverpool.

Salah, of course, doesn’t need any pomp or circumstance to affirm his status, the forward having long cemented himself in the annals of Anfield history.

But the reminders are becoming increasingly regular with Salah’s form echoing that of Jurgen Klopp’s side as they look to finish a difficult campaign with a flourish.

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Indeed, almost every appearance now offers new landmarks for the Egyptian, who again greedily gobbled them up here against an awkwardly robust Brentford.

His winner after 13 minutes made him the first Liverpool player to score in nine consecutive home games, and only the third, after Roger Hunt and Fernando Torres, to net in eight successive Anfield league matches.

What’s more, it moved Salah up to a century of goals on his home patch and saw him push up alongside Steven Gerrard on 186 goals for Liverpool to joint-fifth in the all-time list.

And it represented a 30th goal of the campaign, the fourth time he has reached such a mark with the Reds and making him just the fourth to achieve the feat for the club three years in a row. Of his tally, 19 have come in the Premier League.

It wasn’t the tidiest finish – Salah’s first attempt to force home Virgil van Dijk’s header with his right foot didn’t have enough purchase, forcing him to complete the job with his left – and was in some ways reminiscent of his first goal for Liverpool way back in August 2017 at Watford.

While that debut strike wasn’t enough to earn the Reds victory that afternoon, for the second time in four days it was Salah whose goal proved the only one of a tight game to at least put pressure on Newcastle United and Manchester United in the race for Champions League qualification.

As Klopp rotates his attacking resources – Cody Gakpo started in midfield here – Salah, as throughout his Liverpool career, has remained the constant.

With the Reds now possessing multiple options down the centre, the Egyptian is once again a fully-fledged right winger, further highlighting the size of his achievement in proving so prolific from a wide position.

“Kenny is our king” the Kop pointedly sang during the second half in celebration of the great man. But in the current Liverpool team, there’s also real royalty. Long live the Egyptian King.

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