Never let it be said that Mohamed Salah isn’t paying attention.
At Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, the Liverpool man kicked up a right fuss when he failed to play in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a clear chance, instead dragging a shot tamely wide.
With the Reds going on to win, no real harm was done.
But Oxlade-Chamberlain, substituted moments later, was absolutely fuming at the failure of his team-mate to pass the ball.
Fast forward to seven minutes after the break here at the London Stadium against West Ham United.
Salah was haring away down the inside right channel as Liverpool countered from a home corner, Oxlade-Chamberlain busting a gut to provide support in a more central position, leaving the Hammers defence flailing.
This time, not only did Salah spot his colleague, he played an inch-perfect pass that invited the midfielder to continue his run, hold off the challenge off Hammers debutant Jeremy Ngakia and finish with aplomb.
Not a bad way for Oxlade-Chamberlain to mark reaching a half-century of appearances for Liverpool, having scored his first Reds goal in a 4-1 win here in November 2017.
It was wryly amusing Jurgen Klopp’s side had scored on a counter-attack from a West Ham set-piece, given their own dead-ball situations – so important this season – were consistently wasted.
One they did put away, though, was Salah’s penalty to open the scoring on 35 minutes, converting with nonchalant ease after Divock Origi had been fouled.
Salah has now been directly involved in seven goals in five Liverpool appearances against the Hammers, with five goals and two assists.
The hyper-critical have pointed the finger at the Egyptian in recent weeks, but he now has 15 goals for the season and remains well on course for another 20-plus haul.
Last season’s draw at West Ham was in retrospect seen as a hugely damaging result that perhaps cost the Reds their title chance.
In 37 league games since then, they have won 34 and drawn the other three. Indeed, this victory means they have now beaten every other team in the Premier League before February – something they hadn’t done since 1896.
Not even Salah’s detractors could put a dampener on another step towards the end of a 30-year wait for the championship.
