Mohamed Salah left fuming after Jurgen Klopp substitutes him against Brighton
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| Salah made his comeback in the Champions League defeat against Atalanta in midweek |
Mohamed Salah was left fuming after Jurgen Klopp took the decision to substitute his star forward against Brighton.
The 28-year-old tested positive for coronavirus during the international break and subsequently missed last weekend’s 3-0 win over Leicester City at Anfield.
Salah made his comeback in the Champions League defeat against Atalanta in midweek and was taken off shortly after the hour mark.
The former Roma star started at the Amex and thought he had put his side ahead in the first half, only to see his well-taken goal chalked off by VAR for a marginal offside.
Salah did, however, play a decisive role in Diogo Jota’s opener, nuding a lovely cushioned pass into the Portugual international’s path and the red-hot former Wolves star did the rest, scoring his ninth goal of the season.
The Egypt international’s involvement in the match lasted only a further four minutes, with Klopp opting to take protect a player he can hardly afford to do without given the current injury crisis affecting his squad.
Salah flung out his arms in annoyance when he saw his number was up and trudged towards his manager, ignoring Klopp’s outstretched arm before taking his place in the stands where he was seen chuntering away to himself.
Klopp’s decision appeared to have been vindicated when Salah’s replacement, Sadio Mane, headed home what appeared to be a decisive goal but his effort was again ruled out for offside.
And Liverpool’s failure to close out the game proved costly when Brighton equalised deep in injury time when Pascal Gross converted the home side’s second penalty of the game following Andrew Robertson’s foul on Danny Welbeck.