By Lori Ewing
(Reuters) – Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp praised Mohamed Salah after he netted twice in their 2-0 Merseyside derby victory over 10-man Everton on Saturday, saying the team’s talisman has the ability to score even on less-than-perfect days.
Salah broke the deadlock with a 75th-minute penalty and then scored again deep in extra time for a remarkable 13th consecutive game at Anfield with either a goal or an assist.
“What I love most about Mo, well of course Mo Salah’s numbers, but what I love the most is that I think Mo Salah has played an incredible amount of fantastic games – today was not his best game.
“We need somebody who brings the ball over the line. And he was that again. I couldn’t respect that type more. And it’s absolutely outstanding, his numbers are crazy. He will never stop. That’s his nature. And that’s really cool for us.”
Klopp breathed a sigh of relief when centre back Ibrahima Konate escaped a second booking when he brought down Everton striker Beto and a seething Everton manager Sean Dyche thought the home side should have gone down to 10 men.
“Ibrahima, could have gone, yes,” Klopp said. “When he didn’t get the second yellow I thought okay, we don’t give it a chance and take him off.”
Everton were not so lucky, losing Ashley Young to a red card in the first half for two bookings, but it still took until the 75th minute for Salah to break the deadlock.
“What was really important today that we didn’t get frustrated in the second half with the fact that we didn’t score already,” Klopp said. “And I thought we did that really well.”
The victory was Liverpool’s first in three Premier League matches after they lost 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur and drew 2-2 with Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis)
