Liverpool 2-0 Brighton
by James Nalton
at Anfield

MOHAMED SALAH surpassed Wayne Rooney’s Premier League record of goals plus assists for a single team as Liverpool defeated Brighton 2-0 on Saturday.

Salah’s assist from a corner kick, headed home by Hugo Ekitike, took him to 277 goal involvements in the league for Liverpool (188 goals, 89 assists), surpassing Rooney’s 276 for Manchester United (183 goals, 93 assists).

There were questions around whether Salah would be involved at all after his incendiary comments to the media after being left on the bench in a 3-3 draw at Leeds last week. He was left out entirely for a midweek trip to Milan to play Inter, but was back in the squad on Saturday, if not immediately back on the pitch.

The saga made this one of the more in-demand three o’clock kickoffs, and those looking to see the Egyptian in action didn’t have to wait long.

When Joe Gomez went down injured midway through the first half, a glance at Liverpool’s bench showed Calvin Ramsay as the backup in the right-back position. The Scot impressed in a League Cup game earlier in the season, but has yet to make a Premier League appearance for the club.

This will have influenced the thinking of Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, who, instead of turning to a defender from the bench, chose to replace Gomez with Salah and move Dominik Szoboszlai to right-back.

The hamstring injury was a blow for Gomez, who had been one of Liverpool’s best players before going off, and had finally found a way back into the team following an extended spell on the fringes.

All eyes were now on Salah. Liverpool were already 1-0 up when he came on, having taken the lead in the first minute when defensive pressure in the opposition half ended with Gomez heading the ball to Ekitike, who made no mistake from the early chance.

Brighton had plenty of chances of their own, two of which fell to Diego Gomez, who forced a great save from Alisson and narrowly missed at the far post.

Ekitike could have had more, but his second finally came when he headed Salah’s pinpoint cross.

Salah should have added his name to the scoresheet as well as the headlines when set up by Federico Chiesa, but his shot from six yards out went over the bar.

The Egyptian now leaves Liverpool for the Africa Cup of Nations, and whether he will return to the club once it is over remains to be seen, as he gave a lingering appreciation to the Kop at the end of the game.