Mo Salah scored his 150th Liverpool goal, with Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz also on target as Liverpool came from behind to overcome Norwich and cut the gap on Manchester City to six points.
With Liverpool having a game in hand and Manchester City Losing to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening, the race for the EPL title has been thrown open for contenders.
Milot Rashica’s deflected effort stunned Anfield early in the second half, giving Norwich the lead, before Mane acrobatically volleyed Liverpool level.
Salah scored with a calm finish following goalkeeper Alisson’s superb 70-yard ball, and new signing Diaz completed the scoring by tucking away Jordan Henderson’s slide-rule pass.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said after the win, “Norwich have a very different style but played a proper game, defended deep, had their counter-attacks, made it extremely tough for us.”
“We had times where the game looked completely different, where a deflected ball could have been decisive, but these players never give up.”
Norwich manager Dean Smith was unhappy with the goals his team conceded, but agreed they did not deserve any more.
“I have to be honest and realistic, and we got what we deserved in the end – 0 points,” he remarked.
“We posed some significant questions to a good squad, and it ultimately took a front three of Salah, Mane, and Diaz to steal the points from us. Certainly, certain things could have been done better.”
Liverpool have now won five consecutive Premier League games and have won their past eight matches in all competitions.
Klopp’s decision to make seven changes from the midweek Champions League win over Inter Milan, including defender Joe Gomez’s first league start in 15 months at right-back, could have affected the flow, but there was little sign in a first half that resembled attack versus defence at moments.
Mo Salah Reaches Milestone for Club
Salah’s 50th Champions League appearance for Liverpool was marked by a goal, which came as no surprise this week.
Seven minutes from time, the Egyptian’s predatory finish increased his total for the Reds in the competition to 34. Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski have scored more goals in the Champions League after 50 games for a single team.
Salah’s 24th goal of the season also extended his club record of scoring in eight straight European away matches to eight, giving him a total of 12 goals in his previous 12 Champions League games.
Since joining Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017, he has scored 150 goals in only 233 games.
He is now in the top ten goal scorers in Liverpool’s history, just one goal behind Harry Chambers, who has 151 goals.
What a player.
