The current season started disappointingly for Egyptian star Mohamed Salah compared to his high numbers with Liverpool, but he regained his luster yesterday, Wednesday, with a stunning display at the Scottish Rangers club.
With Manchester City expected to be the main contender for the Premier League title again this season, Liverpool have suffered their worst domestic start in a decade, having collected just 10 points from their first eight league games.
Salah's absence from scoring goals was one of the reasons for the team's decline.
The Egyptian star scored two goals in 5 matches he participated in from the beginning in the league, which is an unexpected rate for a player with an average goal of 0.61 goals in the Premier League.
👏💪👑 Egyptian King 🇪🇬 Mohamed Salah scores the fastest "hat-trick" in the history of the Champions League with 6 minutes and 12 seconds #European_Champions_League |
#Rangers_Liverpool #beINUCL |
#UCL pic.twitter.com/DFXIeijwEL
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) October 12, 2022
It seems that the declining performance was temporary, as Salah and Liverpool desperately needed to appear well before hosting champions Manchester City at Anfield next Sunday.
Salah entered a substitute in the 68th minute, and scored a hat-trick in the 75th, 80th and 81st minutes, i.e. in the range of 6 minutes and 12 seconds, to be the fastest hat-trick in the history of the Champions League, according to the Opta statistics network.
Brazilian Roberto Firmino scored a double in the 24th and 55th minutes, and Darwin Nunes and Harvey Elliot scored twice in the 66th and 87th minutes, respectively, and the match ended with a big win for Liverpool 7-1.
After the match, coach Jurgen Klopp said: "We feel very comfortable. All the efforts paid off. We all know what happens when it goes well with Salah, he is exceptional, absolutely exceptional. Obviously it is a completely different situation for him tonight. I hope everything goes well It's fine for him from now on, I hope so for us."
6 – Mo Salah has scored a hat-trick with just six minutes and 12 seconds between his first and third goals, the quickest ever in UEFA Champions League history.
Lightning.
pic.twitter.com/cuZ2YquoiF
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 12, 2022
And the form in which Salah put the ball in the net - especially in his third goal - in a way that reminded everyone of the best periods of the Egyptian international.
After the treble, Salah raised his score in the Champions League with Liverpool to 38 goals, the largest number of goals scored by any player with an English team in the competition, surpassing Didier Drogba with Chelsea and Sergio Aguero with Manchester City, each with 36 goals.
Liverpool produced the best performance that would end Manchester City's unbeaten start to the Premier League next Sunday, and Salah's chances of making another major contribution to this great summit look more promising now.