Salah sizzles with 7-min treble
His hat-trick in 7-1 win over Rangers a boost for Reds ahead of big clash with City
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GLASGOW - By his own astronomically high standards, this season has been disappointing for Mohamed Salah as he and Liverpool have struggled. But, in one rampant showing at Rangers on Wednesday, both player and club rediscovered their spark.
Tipped to be Manchester City's main Premier League title challengers again this term, the Reds have suffered their worst start to a domestic season in a decade, having amassed just 10 points from their opening eight fixtures.
Salah's lack of goals has perhaps been one of the reasons for their slump. Two from eight starts is not the form you would usually associate with a player who averages 0.61 goals in the Premier League, but the Egyptian's struggles have matched his team's woes.
Form, however, is only temporary. Salah and Liverpool were in dire need of a lift with champions City next up at Anfield on Sunday. The quickest hat-trick in Champions League history from substitute Salah in a 7-1 success was just what the doctor ordered.
His treble arrived in just six minutes and 12 seconds to beat the previous record of eight minutes held by Bafetimbi Gomis in Lyon's 7-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb in 2011.
"We usually drink a beer after away games, it's that long since I drank we'll probably be drunk after one," a buoyant Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp joked after the match.
"The relief is big. All the effort is paying off. We all know when it is running for Mo (Salah) he is exceptional, absolutely exceptional. Obviously it was a different position for him tonight, coming on.
"I hope for him everything works for him from now on, like I hope it does for us."
With Salah left on the bench for the first time this term, Klopp went for a more youthful Liverpool line-up against Rangers to put his side on the verge of the last 16 and forget their domestic struggles.
Coming into the match, of the 45 teams who played at least 50 games in the Champions League, only Anderlecht (16.7 per cent) had a lower win rate than Rangers' 12 victories in 65 games, or 18.5 per cent.
It looked like the gamble had backfired though as Liverpool conceded first for the eighth time this season in the first half at a bouncing Ibrox, before a double from Roberto Firmino turned the match on its head.
Even after close-season signing Darwin Nunez did his confidence a world of good with a fine finish to make it 3-1, Liverpool did not look convincing, until Salah entered the fray against Allan McGregor, Rangers' 40-year-old goalkeeper.
Rangers' defending left much to be desired, but the way Salah - his 38 goals for Liverpool are the most by any player for an English club in the competition, surpassing Chelsea's Didier Drogba and City's Sergio Aguero (both 36) - stroked the ball into the net was reminiscent of the winger at his best.
"I am still processing the game, especially the second half," said Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst. "The first half and the last half an hour was night and day, how we played and that difference in level, that is too much in Champions League."
It will take a special performance for Liverpool to end City's unbeaten start to the season on Sunday, but another telling contribution from Salah in that blockbuster clash looks more promising now.
Reds centre-back Virgil van Dijk said: "It's not a bad thing winning 7-1 here. We know that we are in a tough period, and we take it game by game. That's how we approached tonight.
"That's how we will approach the big one on Sunday. City are on fantastic form, it's always difficult games for both sides. We'll prepare well, recover and be ready for Sunday."
REUTERS, AFP
FASTEST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HAT-TRICKS
7 MIN Mohamed Salah (Liverpool 7-1 Rangers, Oct 12, 2022)
8 MIN Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon 7-1
Dinamo Zagreb, Dec 7, 2011)
9 MIN Mike Newell (Blackburn 4-1 Rosenborg, Dec 6, 1995)
11 MIN Raheem Sterling (Manchester City 5-1 Atalanta, Oct 22, 2019)
11 MIN Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid 8-0 Malmo, Dec 8, 2015)
11 MIN Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich 7-1 Salzburg, March 8, 2022)
12 MIN Lewandowski (Bayern 6-0 Red Star Belgrade, Nov 26, 2019)
12 MIN Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 Bate Borisov, Oct 21, 2014)
