Mohamed Salah has revealed how he was able to prise penalty-taking duty away from James Milner at Liverpool.
WHAT HAPPENED? The Egyptian forward, who moved to Anfield in 2017, has become the Reds’ all-time leading goalscorer in the Premier League – with 129 efforts lifting him above club legend Robbie Fowler. Of those strikes, 18 have come from the spot, with Salah having been able to talk Milner into passing him responsibility from 12 yards in January 2018 during a Golden Boot bid that eventually saw him beat Alan Shearer’s record for most Premier League goals in a 38-game season.
WHAT THEY SAID: Salah has told the LFCTV Original production ‘When Stevie met Salah…’: “I think when I came I wasn't in the first one, two, three, four [penalty takers]. I don't know. Then there was a game at Huddersfield [in January 2018] and [Harry] Kane was scoring 21, 22 [goals]. Something like this. There was only one difference [between Kane and Salah]. Then Milner was in the game and I wasn't really aware of everything going on. I was like 'Okay. I'm going to take it', I asked him nicely. A few players came to me and I said 'guys, I need to take it. I need to score. We're already [two] goals up'. And for me, there he [Milner] told me to take it. So I took and equalised with Kane and after that Milner came to me [to let me take them].”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Salah has successfully converted 24 of the 27 penalties he has taken for Liverpool in all competitions, while Milner has missed only two of the 21 spot-kicks he has stepped up to for the Reds.
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WHAT NEXT? Salah, with another record at Anfield under his belt, has found the target on 178 occasions in total for Liverpool through 219 appearances – with 22 of those strikes coming this season as Jurgen Klopp’s side seek to secure a top-four finish after recovering from a slow start to the campaign.
Mohamed Salah explains how he snared Liverpool penalty duty … – Goal.com
