Jurgen Klopp wasted no time in grabbing hold of Mohamed Salah after Daniel Sturridge’s cracking strike nestled in the back of the Chelsea net.
Salah was the first player substituted by Klopp on Saturday evening, when the Reds were left chasing an equaliser for over an hour.
The Egyptian forward was visibly frustrated when he was replaced by Xherdan Shaqiri, having failed to find the net despite one fantastic opportunity.
Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger denied what looked like a certain goal from last season’s Premier League top scorer and it was not the best evening for Salah in a Liverpool shirt.
But when Sturridge found the net against his former side with a stunning long-distance effort to make it 1-1 in the final minute, Klopp made a point of rushing to embrace Salah and dived on the forward in the dugout.
Premier League rules mean we cannot show you footage of the celebration but, trust us, it was made very clear that there is no problem between Klopp and Salah.
Speaking about the decision to replace Salah after 65 minutes, Klopp anticipated reports of unrest but played down the significance of the substitution.
“Changes when nobody is injured are always tactical. He was not injured. I know already that you will make a fuss of that but that’s football,” Klopp said.
“It was not Mo’s best game of his career, 100 per cent, but coming in a game like this, constantly in situations like he comes in, that makes a world-class player. You fail, you miss or whatever, that happens – no problem with that, how I said. But I want him to want to be decisive, to want to score in these situations, but you could really see the first ball he missed then it was not in the right position. The ball, his foot was not exactly right and the next one he passed in the situation. Why? He could have shot and finished again, then another shot.
“Things like this happen, it’s like riding a bicycle. It’s not that you wake up in the morning and you cannot finish anymore or ride a bike anymore. That’s how it is, you only need to work for these moments when it’s clicking. That’s the period he is in, no problem with that, so all good.”
