Mohamed Salah And Jota Both Score Twice As Jurgen Klopp’s Side Dismantle Struggling Leeds
Liverpool overcame their away-day troubles in impressive style to run out 6-1 winners over ailing Leeds at Elland Road, leaving the Yorkshire side in the thick of one of the most open relegation scraps in recent seasons with only seven league games remaining.
Jurgen Klopp’s side, hoping to spark a late push for an unlikely top-four finish, had failed to score against a bottom-six team in their last six attempts, but there was no danger of history repeating itself after racing into a two-goal lead before the game’s halfway point.
Doubles from Mo Salah and Diogo Jota helped them move within three points of sixth-placed Aston Villa, while Leeds remain just two points above the relegation places having shipped 11 goals in their past two home outings.
“I think it is the best game we played this season,” manager Klopp told Sky Sports post-match. “We forced a lot of errors, scored sensational goals, counter-pressing-wise it was the best for, I want to say, decades.”
There was an element of controversy about Liverpool’s opener, with creator Trent Alexander-Arnold appearing to use an arm to control the ball in the preamble, but VAR declined to intervene as the full-back laid the ball on a plate for Cody Gakpo to tap home at the back post (35).
Operating in a hybrid midfield role, Alexander-Arnold enjoyed 153 touches of the ball across the 90 minutes – the second-most of any player all season. “Trent is providing quality. Watching him in this role, he’s doing it perfectly. There is only Kevin de Bruyne who is better,” Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher eulogised at full-time.
Salah, scoring his eighth goal in six appearances against Leeds, then collected Jota’s incisive pass, using clever movement to escape the clutches of Pascal Struijk, before rifling emphatically beyond a helpless Illan Meslier (39).
Luis Sinisterra netted what turned out to be merely a consolation shortly after the interval (47), paving the way for a second-half Liverpool onslaught, spearheaded by the brilliance of Salah.
The Egyptian scored a majestic fourth (64) shortly after Jota netted his first goal in over a year (52), with the Portuguese forward adding an impressive second to his personal tally in the 73rd minute.
“It was a special second half, we played really well,” Jota commented after breaking his 12 month goal drought. “We scored some great goals. It has been a hard season for me and the team so it is a relief for me to score.”
The visitors wrapped up a stylish performance with a concluding goal in the final minute of normal time when Alexander-Arnold slipped in substitute Darwin Nunez, who finished neatly for his ninth Premier League strike of the campaign.
The victory was Liverpool’s first in all competitions since they thumped Manchester United 7-0 in early March, but will serve as another damaging blow to Leeds’ survival hopes after also conceding five on home turf against Crystal Palace eight days ago.
