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Mohamed Salah continued his superb scoring form as Liverpool made it six Premier League wins in a row by defeating Brentford to move one point behind Manchester United in the race for the top four.
The Egypt forward became the first player in Reds history to score in nine consecutive home appearances, while his winner was his 100th goal for the Reds at Anfield.
His 13th-minute attempt was not the most eye-catching goal of his career – Salah bundling the ball over the line from close range after Virgil van Dijk’s cushioned header across the six-yard box.
But his 30th goal of the season set Jurgen Klopp’s side on the way to another crucial win that keeps alive Liverpool’s outside hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Liverpool are on 62 points, one behind fourth-placed Manchester United who have two games in hand – including one at struggling West Ham on Sunday (19:00 BST).
At a vibrant Anfield, Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo thought he had equalised only for it to be ruled out for offside after a video assistant referee (VAR) check, while Cody Gakpo missed a great chance to make it 2-0 after the break from point-blank range.
Before the game, many Liverpool fans booed the national anthem which was played as a tribute to King Charles III on the day of his coronation, after the club said they know some fans “have strong views on it”.
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Salah reaches Anfield century
Where would Liverpool be without Salah?
In front of Liverpool’s all-time record scorer Ian Rush, Liverpool’s number 11 reached a century of goals at the iconic home of the Reds, while Salah has now scored 30 goals or more in four of his six seasons at Liverpool.
Fabinho was heavily involved in the move for the goal, the Brazil midfielder playing a lovely pass into the box for Van Dijk to tee-up Salah to equal Steven Gerrard’s tally of 186 for Liverpool.
On a day of milestones, Alisson was relatively untroubled as the Brazil keeper made it 100 clean sheets for Liverpool, while Trent Alexander-Arnold produced the pass of the match to set up Darwin Nunez who should have made it 2-0.
Gakpo will also feel he should have scored after Diogo Jota’s pass into the six-yard area, while David Raya thwarted Alexander-Arnold in the closing stages.
Liverpool, who won just two of their opening eight Premier League games, are ending the season strongly but are also running out of games in their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
They have just three more left – Leicester away, Aston Villa at home and Southampton away. Manchester United remain strong favourites to seal a top-four finish, with three of their five games at home to Wolves, Chelsea and Fulham.
Liverpool fans, however, will still believe they can sneak into the top four while their side carries on winning.
‘One of the all-time greats’
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he was “really proud” of Salah after the former Roma and Chelsea forward wrote his name into the club’s history books.
Since Liverpool were held 0-0 by Chelsea at Anfield on 21 January, Salah has scored in each home game against Everton, Real Madrid, Wolves, Manchester United, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham, Fulham and Brentford.
“He is one of the all time greats,” added Klopp, who signed Salah from Roma for £34m in June 2017.
“Now he is just a world-class player with a desire to score goals. He works hard to close players down.”
Battling Bees come up short
Brentford have had another fine season under Thomas Frank and continue to win a legion of new admirers for the way they have established themselves in the top half of the table.
This season alone has brought them statement wins over both Manchester clubs and Chelsea, while they were chasing a first league double over the Reds after defeating Klopp’s side 3-1 in London in January.
They were fully committed at Anfield with Ivan Toney and Mbeumo both lively but, for all their hard work, the Bees registered just one attempt on target.
Toney, who has 20 Premier League goals this season, went close from a free-kick in front of the Kop while Aaron Hickey also had a chance to equalise.
Despite defeat, Brentford are ninth in the table – five points clear of 10th-placed Fulham – and remain on course for their best top-flight finish since 1938.
“We definitely could have got something out of it,” said Frank on his side’s performance at Anfield.
“High pressure was very good, we frustrated them a lot and we were close to creating even more problems for them.”
Source:BBC Sport