MY ACCOUNT
Mohamed Salah scored his 150th goal for Liverpool and Luis Díaz opened his account as the Reds came from behind to beat Norwich City 3-1 at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were left stunned when Milot Rashica’s deflected strike put Premier League strugglers Norwich in front in the 48th minute.
But two goals in the space of three minutes spared the second-placed side’s blushes, with Sadio Mane equalising through an acrobatic volley before Alisson’s brilliant assist set the prolific Salah up to reach yet another milestone.
Recent signing Diaz sealed an eighth successive win for Merseyside club, which moved them six points behind leaders Manchester City ahead of their clash with Tottenham later on Saturday
Rashica had the ball in the back of the Liverpool net early on, but strayed offside before Kostas Tsimikas missed a good chance at the other end, failing to hit the target sliding in to meet Salah’s cross.
Teemu Pukki wasted a glorious chance to put the Canaries in front when he dragged a left-foot shot wide from inside the penalty area with only Alisson to beat after Angus Gunn palmed away Virgil van Dijk’s downward header.
Liverpool dictated the play and Salah had a header cleared off the line by the alert Mathias Normann as Norwich defended tenaciously in a goalless first half, which also saw Van Dijk have a goal disallowed as the linesman’s flag was up.
It was Dean Smith’s side who sensationally drew first blood just after the break, when Rashica’s drive from just outside the area struck Joel Matip’s leg and flashed past a wrong-footed Alisson.
Klopp introduced Thiago Alcantara and Divock Origi just after the hour-mark and Mane equalised soon after with a brilliant overhead kick from close range after Tsimikas nodded headed across goal.
Salah then raced clear after controlling Alisson’s accurate long ball with a great touch and turned sharply to outfox Gunn before calmly slotting home with his right foot.
Diaz put the icing on the cake nine minutes from time, dinking over Gunn with his left foot after Jordan Henderson picked him out with a sublime pass.
What does it mean? Ruthless Reds unbeaten in 11
Although City will take some stopping in the title race, Liverpool are in magnificent form and it is now 11 games unbeaten for Klopp’s men.
The Merseyside club have not lost in 16 top-flight games at home, but had to storm back in the second half, with Thiago outstanding in the middle of the park as he made a huge impact off the bench.
Klopp, unable to call on Roberto Firmino or Diogo Jota due to injury, made seven changes following the win over Inter and the Reds got the job done against a Norwich side that gave a great account of themselves.
Salah the record-breaker
The incredible Salah became the 10th player to score 150 goals in all competitions for Liverpool in his 233rd appearance, and is the second-quickest to the milestone behind Roger Hunt (226 matches).
That is 25 goals for the season for the Egypt international in all competitions, and he took his latest goal superbly with ice-cool composure.
Diaz a shrewd signing
Colombia international Diaz has made an impressive start to life at Liverpool after joining from Porto last month, and it was only a matter of time before he scored his first goal.
He produced a classy finish in front of The Kop after making an intelligent run in behind the Norwich defence, Henderson feeding him with a sublime pass.
Key Opta facts
– Liverpool have now scored 100 goals in 39 matches in all competitions this season, becoming the first Premier League club to reach that total in 2021-22. The Reds had scored 97 goals in 53 matches in the whole of last season.
– Norwich have lost eight of their last 11 Premier League matches (W2 D1) since the start of December; only Brentford (nine) have lost more games in the competition in this time.
– This game was the 30th time that both Salah and Mane have scored in the same Premier League match for Liverpool – the most of any pair of players for a side in the competition’s history.
– Diaz is the 16th different Colombian player to score a Premier League goal. He also Liverpool’s 16th different goalscorer in the competition this season (excluding own goals), the joint-most of any side (Chelsea and Man City both also 16).
What’s next?
The Reds entertain Leeds United on Wednesday, while Norwich travel to Southampton on Friday.
