Manchester United legend and Premier League pundit Roy Keane lost his cool against Mohamed Salah for his reaction after being substituted against Chelsea.
Liverpool battled Chelsea to a draw at Stamford Bridge in the 2023/24 Premier League opener in a thrilling game.
Both sides gave it their all as they share spoils to end the game on a record 7th consecutive draw between the two teams.
Luis Diaz opened the scoring for the Reds after he raced into the Chelsea box and slot home Mohamed Salah’s cross pass Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea mounted a formidable response with new right-back signing from Monaco, Axel Disasi, netting the equaliser to level the scores before the first half break.
Both sides had goals ruled out for offsides as they finally settled for a 1-1 draw after the final whistle.
A major talking point of the game was Mohamed Salah’s reaction after he was substituted by Jurgen Klopp. The Egyptian forward was obviously unhappy over Jurgen Klopp’s decision to substitute him and did not hide his emotions to that effect. Salah angrily stormed off the pitch after he was subbed off. He walked off to his seat in frustration.
Why was Mohamed Salah angry for being subbed off?
Liverpool had a great game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge taking the lead in the first half. Mohamed Salah delivered a defense-piercing assist for Liverpool’s goal. However, Salah did not have a great opening weekend for the Reds.
For the first time since joining Liverpool, Mohamed Salah failed to score on the opening weekend for Liverpool.
In 2017/18 season, Salah scored against Watford in the opening weekend, scored against West Ham in 2018/19 opener, scored against Norwich, Leeds United, and Fulham as well in subsequent Premier League openers.
He has scored a total of 8 goals against six different teams in Premier League openers.
Against Chelsea, Salah failed to find the back of the net in the opening weekend for the first time in the past six seasons.
When his number was up for substitution, Salah untie his wrist tape and throw it on the floor out of anger as he stormed off the pitch in fury.
Roy Keane blasts Mohamed Salah for complaining after being substituted
Roy Keane was overly unimpressed with Salah’s antics after being subbed off. Reacting to the incident, Keane said it was normal to be angry after being subbed off unexpectedly but it is unacceptable to be angry for too long.
“It’s OK to be upset, but don’t keep it up for too long. He was shaking his head and then sat down on the bench with his arms up. Sit down and shut up!”
“You have to take it. Be upset but don’t drag it out. We’ve seen a lot better players than Salah get taken off – it’s part of the game.”
Jurgen Klopp reacts to Salah’s angry outburst
Speaking after the game, Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, was indifferent to Salah’s outburst.
The former Borussia Dortmund manager said Salah is an important player for the team but the decision to substitute him was necessary and has to be taken although he (Salah) was chasing his record.
“We are here to win a game. Mo is super important but we have to make decisions. We needed fresh legs. He has 500 different records. I can’t think of these.’’
While the former Chelsea forward failed to score against his former club, he did kept his record of always being involved in a goal in the opening weekend as he assisted Luis Diaz’s strike.
Mohamed Salah will hope to return to elite level performance when Liverpool take on Bournemouth in their next game
