Michael Owen spotted a moment of ‘incredible mindset’ from Mohamed Salah in the buildup to Liverpool’s winning goal against Manchester City. The Egyptian made it happen.
Liverpool beat Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday – and you can just about call it a shock result. The Reds haven’t been in great form this season, after all. City, on the other hand, remained undefeated as Erling Haaland helped power them to results.
But Jurgen Klopp masterminded a win here. He stuck with his 4-4-2 – despite calls for him to change things up – and backed his players to handle City. Importantly, he also moved Mohamed Salah centrally from the start.
That was something we saw against Rangers in midweek, of course. Salah came on as a second-half substitute and bagged a six-minute hattrick, breaking the Champions League record in the process. It appeared to be a game-changing switch that made the 4-4-2 a serious weapon.
And it proved that way against City. Salah was a menace all game long and it was no surprise that he found the winner. Alisson claimed a free-kick and fired a long kick to try and get the forward away on the counter. After shrugging off Joao Cancelo, Salah ran through on goal and finished.
But while the strength and the finish were both impressive, it was actually the moment before that impressed Michael Owen. He told Premier League Matchday Live that Salah showed ‘incredible mindset’.
Mo Salah in the buildup to his goal
“Even when [Liverpool are] out of possession, even when the ball is going into your box, he’s still thinking ‘goal’,” said Owen. “It’s an incredible mindset to have.
“But you can see, as soon as it floats over his head he’s thinking ‘that’s going into Alisson’s hands, that’ and he sets off. Everybody else was just watching the play. But no, he’s thinking ‘goal’.”
Salah in a nutshell. His moment is phenomenal and the way he sees things happening is simply on another level to everyone else. It’s honestly the secret to his success.
Because in truth, Salah isn’t the most outstanding finisher in the world. He’s not someone you’d describe as one-chance, one-goal. Instead, his strength is in constantly finding opportunities to score – maybe you can stop him the first time, maybe even the second but there are more chances coming.
That’s something Salah himself said he thrives on after the game. Owen spotted it in action, though – Salah seeing a chance to score while City were trying to score themselves.
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