Salah makes history as Liverpool sinks Spurs
Mohamed Salah made more Premier League history as he scored and provided an assist in Liverpool's 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Salah, who had a public disagreement with outgoing Reds boss Jurgen Klopp during last week's 2-2 draw with West Ham United, was back at his best as the Reds returned to winning ways.
He opened the scoring in the 16th minute at Anfield, where Liverpool cruised into a 4-0 lead before Spurs fought back to make matters interesting late on through Richarlison and Son Heung-min.
Andrew Robertson and Cody Gakpo got in on the act before Harvey Elliott curled in Liverpool's fourth goal, having received a pass from Salah, who in the process went into the Premier League's record books.
Salah is the first player in Premier League history to score 10 or more goals and provide 10 or more assists in three consecutive seasons.
Meanwhile, he is also only the second player to tally 10 or more in both in five separate seasons in the competition overall, after Wayne Rooney.
"Mo [Salah] was outstanding, he played a really good game," Klopp said.
"His side with Harvey [Elliott] was good. I was pleased for him. None of the boys want to play not great, why would they? Mo showed what he is capable of."
Salah's earlier goal had also seen him draw level with Harry Kane as the highest goalscorer in Premier League matches between Liverpool and Spurs, with nine. He is also squandered a great chance to make it 5-2, before seeing a goal disallowed for offside in stoppage-time.
Spurs remain in fifth, seven points below Aston Villa in fourth, while Liverpool remains third, five points off leader Arsenal, although it would need an almighty slip-up from either of the top two to stand a chance of winning the title from here.
The warning signs were there early from Liverpool, with Guglielmo Vicario smothering Salah’s shot on the line before Cristian Romero cleared Elliott’s follow-up.
Salah grabbed the opener 16 minutes in, latching onto Gakpo’s cross to cushion his 18th goal of the season past Vicario, who got a hand to it.
The Reds’ dominance continued. Luis Diaz tried an acrobatic attempt and Elliott saw a curler saved by Vicario, but Liverpool’s pressure told again before the break.
Vicario got down to Salah’s crisp effort but could only parry it into the path of Robertson, who tucked into an open net on the rebound.
Spurs’ display did not improve after the break, and Gakpo thumped in Elliott’s cross after Emerson Royal was dispossessed.
Elliott capped a fine individual display in the 59th minute, curling a sumptuous shot into the top-left corner, giving Vicario no chance.
Richarlison’s introduction from the bench sparked Spurs into life, as he slotted in his 11th goal of the campaign with 18 minutes remaining.
The Brazil international turned from scorer to provider five minutes later, laying it off for Son to finish.
Salah squandered a great chance to put the contest to bed at the other end, but Alisson denied Richarlison a second, with Joe Gomez preventing Brennan Johnson nodding in the rebound, as Liverpool saw out a morale-boosting win in Jurgen Klopp’s penultimate home game.
The fixture itself is now the highest-scoring one in Premier League history, having overtaken Arsenal v Liverpool.