Another weekend of Premier League football played, another goal milestone reached, and a very special one at that for Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
During the Reds’ dominant 3-0 win over Leeds United on Saturday, Salah, one of the best African footballers ever, became the 30th player to reach 100 Premier League goals, in the league’s 30th season since its inception. It was a fitting honour for a player who has contributed so much to the English top flight in a relatively short amount of time, from setting the record for the most goals scored in a Premier League season and claiming back-to-back golden boots to spearheading Liverpool’s first title triumph since 1990.
From his first goal as a Chelsea player way back in 2014 right up to his simple finish against Leeds on Sunday, it’s fair to say that Liverpool’s Egyptian King has carved his own place in Premier League history, becoming an Anfield legend in the process. To mark his century of goals, we took a trip down memory lane to revisit some landmark moments in his career.
Table of Contents
Mohamed Salah/s greatest 5 greatest goals in Premier League
1. First goal: Vs Arsenal (22nd March 2014)
Having become such an icon on Merseyside, it now feels strange to recall that he once donned the Blue of Chelsea, and it was during a London derby against Arsenal that Salah got his name on the Premier League scoresheet for the very first time.
In a match that the Blues steamrolled and were already 5-0 up in, a ball over the top of the Arsenal defence found Salah with all the time and space that a Premier League forward could wish for, and he easily slotted the ball past Wojciech Szczesny to round off an astonishing Chelsea victory.
It was the first of only two Premier League goals he scored for Chelsea, both of which came during the run-in of the 2013/14 season. After falling out of favour and heading to pastures new, it would be over three years before he’d net another Premier League goal.
2. 100th goal: Vs Leeds United (12th September 2021)
His time at Chelsea may not have worked out as planned, but as we’ve all seen since then, Salah has built an incredible career at Liverpool. Having scored 98 of his total 100 Premier League goals for the Merseyside outfit, the winger struck again in Liverpool’s recent victory over Leeds to reach the milestone.
Just over 20 minutes into the match at Elland Road, a low cross from the overlapping Trent Alexander-Arnold found Salah just a couple of yards out, and the Egyptian stabbed the ball home to give Liverpool the lead.
A straightforward finish, it ended up being the goal that sent the Reds on their way as they claimed a comfortable 3-0 win, and climbed to the joint top of the table with 10 points after four matches.
3. Best goal: Vs Chelsea (14th April 2019)
Towards the end of Salah’s second season on Merseyside, Liverpool were locked neck and neck with Manchester City in the most intense title race the league had ever seen. With the season nearing its close, Salah stepped up and delivered the greatest goal of his career.
As the scores stood level at 0-0 In a colossal showdown against his former club Chelsea, Salah received an aerial ball in his usual right wing position. After bringing the ball down in front of The Kop, he cut inside before instantly unleashing a rocket of a shot on his left foot that arrowed straight into the far corner of Kepa Arrizabalaga’s net. It was a goal that set Liverpool on their way to a vital 2-0 win.
Although the Reds would eventually fall short of the title by a single point, the goal and moment were cemented as perhaps Salah’s most iconic in a Liverpool shirt, a strike that seems impossible to stop.
4. Most important goal: Vs Crystal Palace (24th June 2020)
The agony of Liverpool’s near miss in 2019 eventually served as the launching pad from which The Reds would finally claim a first Premier League crown in 2020, a triumph in which Salah was once again integral.
Whilst you could probably pick any of Salah’s goals from that season as being the most important of his Liverpool career, it was his strike in a 4-0 drubbing of Crystal Palace that finally ended all doubts about the destination of the title.
Played soon after the beginning of Project Restart in June, Liverpool were already 1-0 up in the match before an inch-perfect pass over the top of the defence found Salah on the right-hand side of the box, who calmly finished past Wayne Hennessey.
At 2-0 up before half time, the goal effectively finished off Crystal Palace and once and for all finished the 2019-20 title race, with Liverpool being confirmed as champions the following evening when Manchester City lost to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
5. Most memorable goal: Vs Everton (10th December 2017)
We’ve already looked back on Salah’s magical strike against Chelsea, but in his early days on Merseyside the Egyptian netted another iconic goal that was every bit as memorable.
In his first taste of a Merseyside derby at Anfield, Salah again received the ball in his usual right wing position, with his back to goal. After turning back inside, the forward dribbled past two defenders before bending in a perfect far post shot beyond Everton’s Jordan Pickford.
Although it only brought Liverpool a derby draw, the goal would become forever immortalised in football as the winner of the 2018 Puskas Award, just the second time that the award would be claimed by a Premier League player.
