Mohamed Salah’s incredible second-half goal sealed a 1-0 victory for Liverpool over Manchester City in an enthralling and hot-tempered encounter at Anfield, which saw Jurgen Klopp sent off.
Salah, fresh from his six-minute hat-trick against Rangers, produced a brilliant piece of control to take down Alisson’s long kick and spin away from Joao Cancelo before beating Ederson with a cool finish (76) as Liverpool put their recent struggles behind them.
Haaland, for once, was not on the scoresheet and it was Liverpool’s talisman Mohamed Salah who made the vital contribution, racing on to a clearance from keeper Alisson after Joao Cancelo’s slip to beat Ederson with a composed finish with 14 minutes left.
Earlier, Ederson had produced a brilliant save to deny Salah in a similar one-on-one situation while City manager Pep Guardiola was furious that a Phil Foden goal that would have put his side ahead was ruled out by the video assistant referee for Haaland’s foul on Fabinho.
This was not to be Haaland’s day, although he did bring two saves from Alisson, but Anfield was left exultant as Liverpool at last showed why they have consistently been City’s biggest threat.
In a frantic finale, tempers boiled over and Klopp was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor for his protests after he felt Salah was fouled – but when temperatures cool he will be overjoyed by a statement win.
