On Sunday, in the Premier League match between Liverpool and Brighton, which ended in a 2-2 draw, two players for Liverpool, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, made history.
Before Liverpool’s trip to Brighton on Sunday, attacker Mohamed Salah had not scored in any of his previous seven Premier League games played away from Anfield.
Even though Salah still made a substantial contribution during those time by contributing an astonishing eight assists, it was still an odd scoring slump for a player who has been considered to be the league’s most reliable scorer ever since his debut in 2017.
The Egyptian had a successful history against Brighton, as he was responsible for six of the team’s goals scored against them.
Only Kenny Dalglish, widely considered to be the greatest Liverpool legend of all time, has scored more goals against Brighton in any previous meeting between the two teams.
And sure enough, Salah would score twice — once in open play, and once from the penalty spot — to surpass Liverpool’s other “king” at the top of the standings. Both of Salah’s goals came in the second half.
However, his primary feeling will most likely be disappointment because his team was unable to hold on for the three points they needed after he was the driving force behind the comeback attempt late in the first half.
Alexis Mac Allister made a catch close to the midway point of the pitch and then threw the ball to Dominik Szoboszlai to advance the Reds’ offensive position.
This was the beginning of the move that ultimately led to Salah scoring his first goal.
After Luis Diaz had passed the ball to Darwin Nunez, Luis Diáz’s Hungarian teammate was anxiously anticipating Néz’s delivery of the ball across the box.
It appeared that Harvey Elliott was going to get there first, but when Salah shouted over his right shoulder, Elliott had no choice but to leave it for the most productive player on the squad, who ran onto it and buried the ball in the back of the net.
It is an impressive feat that Nunez has now assisted Mohamed Salah in scoring seven goals for Liverpool across all competitions. This tally accounts for all of Nunez’s assists.
According to Michael Reid of Opta, the current run being put together by the Reds is the longest that has ever been put together by any team in the history of the Premier League. This may not have been wholly planned.
Since Nunez came to the club in 2022 in a club-record move from Benfica, it is quite evident that the two have built a solid relationship with one another.
On paper, it appears to be relatively one-sided due to the fact that Salah has only responded twice during the same time frame; however, this is only a reflection of his below-average finishing ability.
An excellent illustration of this occurred on Thursday night during the Europa League match between Liverpool and Union SG. The ball was passed to Nunez by Salah with a square pass coming from the right side of the field. However, Nunez, who was playing the number nine position, curiously skewed the ball wide as the audience waited for the net to expand.
The 24-year-old player needs to start making the most of his opportunities if he wants this combination to be recognised for what it truly is, which is one of the most prominent in the Premier League. Until then, it won’t be given the recognition it deserves.
After his run of 12 consecutive games with a goal assist came to an end against the Spurs, Salah immediately got back on track, and he is presently continuing to set the standard for the other attackers on Liverpool’s roster.
The rest of the forwards have their own goals to achieve, but Nunez is the one who bears the heaviest responsibility given his position and the price tag on him.
