Jurgen Klopp hailed Mohamed Salah as a ‘goal-scoring machine’ after the Egyptian gave a parting gift to Liverpool of a brace and assist to keep them top of the Premier League before he jets off to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo also scored in a dominant display for Liverpool that saw them rack up 7.27 expected goals (xG) – the highest on record in a Premier League game – and Klopp waxed lyrical about his departing talisman.
‘Mo is a goal scoring machine,’ said Klopp. ‘It is extremely special. Darwin (Nunez) had chances too. I would say 99.9 per cent of players would have finished it themselves but he chose to pass it (for Salah’s opener). Special game, special night.’
Salah missed a penalty in the first half but changed his boots at half-time and credited that superstitious act for his second-half heroics. ‘The players spoke in the dressing room. We have to stay calm. I missed the pen,’ said Salah.
‘At half-time I was like, “Do you want to leave for the national team with that performance?” Not really! So I had to really focus, step up and make the difference and I managed to do so. I changed boots. The other one I missed the pen with, I just trained with yesterday.
Jurgen Klopp called Mohamed Salah a ‘goal-scoring machine’ after Liverpool beat Newcastle
The German was delighted with his side’s 4-2 victory and labelled the match a ‘special night’
‘It’s not superstitious because I play with many boots. But when I feel it’s going to play with my head… OK, out, change the boots!
‘But I don’t like to go in the second half of this game thinking, “I didn’t score with this”. So I just made my mind calm and focused on the game.’
Asked on a title tilt, Salah added: ‘We believe a lot. We have such good talent, they just need to work hard, nothing else.
‘They just need to express themselves on the field, play their football.
‘If we manage to do that and work hard, that’s what makes us a winning (team).’
Eddie Howe bemoaned his side’s performance but insisted he was happy with their effort
Meanwhile, Eddie Howe confirmed Kieran Trippier missed this match with a groin issue and Callum Wilson will be out for two more games.
The Newcastle boss said: ‘It was a really good performance from Liverpool, they made it very difficult for us.
‘Our character and commitment was at the highest level, not our best performance but a lot of effort.
‘We were asked a lot of questions today – their movement and quality. They’re a team that examine you in every way.’
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