Egypt's Salah leads Liverpool to 4-1 win with well-taken double

Ahram Online and Reuters , Saturday 4 Nov 2017

Salah
Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United vs Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - November 4, 2017 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their first goal Reuters

Egypt winger Mohamed Salah continued his prolific goal-scoring run to net two goals in Liverpool's 4-1 thrashing of West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday.

The in-form Salah broke the deadlock in the 21st minute with a composed left-foot finish after breaking clear following a deft pass from Senegal's Sadio Mane.

Both men combined again to add the fourth and put the result beyond doubt with 15 minutes remaining.

Mane picked out Salah with a neat chipped pass following a fast counter attack and the former AS Roma man superbly controlled it before firing into the bottom corner on the half-volley from a narrow angle.

He took his tally to seven Premier League goals, just one short of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, who is leading the scorers' chart.

Salah also has 12 goals to his name in 16 appearances in all competitions.

"We started very well and it’s a good result in the end. I had the confidence to come to England again but I have to carry on," Salah said after the match. 

Joel Matip and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were also on target for Liverpool.

Manuel Lanzini struck in vain for woeful West Ham.

"Our counter-attacking was pretty perfect, we had some wonderful play," Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, who was boosted by the return of Sadio Mane after a month out, said.

"The result feels good. We changed our approach, it was a counter-attacking lineup to use our speed from the deep."

That approach was typified by Liverpool's first goal.

West Ham earned a corner, but 13 seconds after they took it the ball was in their net at the other end.

Salah stole the ball and flicked it to Mane who burned across the ground before feeding Salah to fire past Joe Hart.

Two minutes later it was 2-0 as Salah's corner almost forced Mark Noble into an own goal and when Hart pushed the ball out, Matip was on hand to prod in the rebound.

West Ham had actually started okay and Lanzini struck the post when it was 0-0. Some of their fans left after Liverpool's second goal, however, fearful of what was to come.

Former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll came on at halftime for West Ham and for a while the hosts improved.

When Lanzini halved the deficit at the far post there was hope but 55 seconds later Oxlade-Chamberlain scored at the second attempt. Salah drove home his side's fourth with 15 minutes left, by which time thousands of West Ham fans had long gone.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic cut a lonely figure in his technical area and the pressure is on the Croat whose side look destined for a long, hard winter.

"I have to talk to the chairman, we are going to discuss this defeat," Bilic said. "It's not the first one, it's the second in a row at home.

"It's a very difficult situation for me."

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