The Egypt forward led Galatasaray a merry dance for 17 second-half minutes to Anfield’s delight
Welcome back, Mo. The old place has missed you. How many more of these are we going to get?
It would be incorrect to say this was Mohamed Salah’s night at Anfield. It was instead Mohamed Salah’s 17 second‑half minutes, although these were the decisive 17 minutes in this Champions League tie, and one of those interludes at this ground where a kind of voodoo descends, the night goes a little wonky and ghosts flicker at the edge of things.
In this case Anfield was treated to a glimpse, wind chimes tinkling, of Peak Salah, retro Mo, Salah the way we were. The key moment was a wonderful piece of skill to create and then finish Liverpool’s final goal in this 4-0 win. Salah took the ball on the right, played a one-two with Florian Wirtz, gilded by a saucy little bandy-legged flick into his path.
Salah knows the lines from that spot. He took one touch and curled a left-foot shot in a hard flat arc into the far corner, the ball hanging in the Anfield air just long enough, a lovely soft white orb against the green, before it finally zinged the net.
