Sunday October 24, 2021
By Joe Krishnan
The Egyptian helped himself to a hat-trick as Liverpool thrashed a woeful Manchester United side at Old Trafford and wrote his name in the record books once again?
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has become the highest-scoring African player in Premier League history after a phenomenal hat-trick against Manchester United.
The Egyptian was in scintillating form once again as the Reds ran riot at Old Trafford, scoring for the 10th consecutive league game and his 15th goal in just 12 games this season.
The 29-year-old first set up Naby Keita for the opening goal and played a role in the build-up to Diogo Jota’s strike for the second.
He then added his name to the scoresheet with two goals before the half-time interval to put Liverpool in dreamland at 4-0 up.
And he completed the hat-trick just five minutes after the break with the pick of the bunch, latching onto a fine pass from Jordan Henderson before slotting past David de Gea.
With his treble, it means Salah has now scored 107 goals in the top flight, helping him surpass retired Chelsea legend Didier Drogba on 104.
What is more remarkable is that Drogba needed 292 games to rack up his goals total with eight seasons spent in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Salah has featured in only 166 games, with 153 for Liverpool and 13 at Chelsea which produced only two goals.
There remains a chance his Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane could join him at the summit, with the Senegalese seven goals back on 100.
But Salah’s incredible form, which has seen him net in every game this season aside from the 2-0 win over Burnley, would surely protect his lead for now over Mane.
Salah has already broken several records this season, becoming the quickest player to reach 100 Premier League goals for Liverpool earlier this season.
He has also becomes the first Liverpool player to score in three consecutive games at Old Trafford by inflicting three on the hapless Man United backline.
The forward netted twice in the FA Cup fourth round defeat by United in January this year.
Salah also opened the scoring and equalised to make it 2-2 in the second half on that occasion, but the Red Devils ran out 3-2 winners.
The 29-year-old then scored Liverpool's fourth in the 4-2 Premier League win against United in May.
And he completed a very different hat-trick with his latest goalscoring exploits as Liverpool sunk United to equal their biggest win in this fixture for 96 years.
His record of 32 goals in his debut season remains untouched in a 38-game season and he has won the Golden Boot in two of his four seasons in England, losing out to Harry Kane last season by a single goal.
He has already been tipped as a frontrunner for the 2021 Ballon d’Or award, with Salah thought to be competing against Lionel Messi, Jorginho, Robert Lewandowski and N’Golo Kante for the gong.
His performances led Jurgen Klopp to hail Salah as the best player in the world at present —ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“Who is better than him?” He said to BT Sport earlier in October.
“We don't have to talk about what Messi and Ronaldo have done for world football and their dominance. But right now, he is the best."