Mohamed Salah: Careless In The First Round, Rise In The Second Round Defeat Southampton

Mohamed Salah/ Photo: ANTARA

LIVERPOOL Liverpool star Mohamed Salah admitted his team appeared careless in the first half against Southampton in the Premier League at Anfield Stadium, Saturday night.

According to Salah, the Reds played too slow and less creative up front for the first 45 minutes. As a result, Liverpool conceded first through Will Smallbone's goal, which took advantage of the miscommunication between Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.

"Our first half played carelessly, too slowly, and wasted too much time. In the last minute they managed to score and lead," Salah said, quoted from the club's official website on Sunday.

Strategy Change In The Second Round

Left 0-1 in the first half, coach Arne Slot made a change in strategy by including Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister, and Harvey Elliot, replacing Kostas Tsimikas, Curtis Jones, and Dominik Szoboszlai.

This change made Liverpool's game much more aggressive in attack. As a result, Darwin Nunez scored the equalizer goal in the 51st minute, before Mohamed Salah confirmed victory through two penalties in the 55th and 88th minutes.

"We played better in the second half, but in the first half we performed poorly. If we want to win the Champions League or the Premier League, we have to be able to win a game like this," said Salah.

Mismatch Aguero's Record

In addition to bringing his team to victory, Salah also made history by equalizing Sergio Aguero's record as the fifth most goalscorer of all time in the Premier League with 184 goals.

"I know about the record, but I didn't think about it while playing. Sergio is a legend of this league, so I'm very happy to be able to match his record. But most importantly, I prefer this win."

This victory further solidified Liverpool's position at the top of the standings with 70 points, 16 points ahead of Arsenal who are in second place.