Mo Salah said it best when he said nothing at all.
When Mo Salah was on the field on Tuesday night, he ran the show.
The Egyptian’s first two goals were the opening scores of the game. By the time he got two assists, Liverpool were 4-0 up. The Reds went on to bag one more goal before Salah made his exit. The talisman was applauded off the Anfield surface when he went off at the 76-minute mark.
He walked over to the substitutes’ bench and took his seat. The job was done. The result wasn’t in doubt. With only 15 minutes left, they couldn’t possibly fuck up a memorable night.
Surely.
Two Liverpool stars get top marks in our player ratings from Roma win | @RobRedmond10 https://t.co/i9ydqghdOb
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 24, 2018
Five minutes later, Loris Karius was picking the ball out of the Liverpool net. AS Roma bagged their first through Edin Dzeko. The big Bosnian beat a failed offside trap attempt, controlled the ball beautifully and slotted it home.
It took the gloss off the result, but surely it was only a consolation goal, Salah must have thought.
Less than five minutes later, Roma were awarded a penalty. James Milner put his paw on the end of Radja Nainggolan’s shot inside the box. Diego Perotti stepped up and struck the perfect penalty that sailed into the right-hand corner.
All of a sudden, another improbable Roma Champions League comeback seemed a little too likely for comfort. The fans in Anfield knew it. Jurgen Klopp knew it. And, of course, Salah knew it too.
Salah's face #LIVROM pic.twitter.com/L8Q0FUFNEc
— Ben Kiely (@TheJivemaster) April 24, 2018
Lesson learned. Never take him off ever again.
