{"id":21445,"date":"2024-12-22T21:54:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T21:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=21445"},"modified":"2024-12-22T21:54:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-22T21:54:23","slug":"salah-diaz-score-twice-as-liverpool-beat-spurs-in-nine-goal-thriller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=21445","title":{"rendered":"Salah, Diaz score twice as Liverpool beat Spurs in nine-goal thriller"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool swept four points clear at the top of the Premier League as Mohamed Salah\u2019s masterclass inspired a memorable 6-3 rout of Tottenham on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Salah delivered a sublime performance featuring two goals and a pair of assists as Arne Slot\u2019s side ran riot in north London.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liverpool took advantage of second-placed Chelsea\u2019s 0-0 draw at Everton earlier in the day to cement their status as title favourites heading into the Christmas period.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hapless Tottenham had no answer to Liverpool\u2019s intelligent pressing and supreme passing and movement, with Egypt star Salah at the heart of their lethal attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

Salah is the only Premier League player to reach double figures in goals (15) and assists (11) this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 32-year-old is now Liverpool\u2019s fourth top scorer ever with 229 goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

His brace took him past Billy Liddell, with only Ian Rush (346), Roger Hunt (285) and Gordon Hodgson (241) ahead of him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Salah\u2019s latest heroics only underlined the urgency to get his future resolved, with the forward\u2019s current deal due to expire at the end of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs from January and has hinted several times that this could be his last season at Anfield.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Salah scoring 18 times in all competitions, Liverpool have been on fire since Slot arrived from Feyenoord to replace Jurgen Klopp in the close-season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Klopp delivered Liverpool\u2019s last Premier League title in 2020 and it looks increasingly likely Slot will emulate that success in his maiden campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Reds have won 21 of their 25 matches in all competitions under Slot and have a game in hand on Chelsea to strengthen their lead in the title race.<\/span><\/p>\n

This was a remarkable display of Liverpool\u2019s firepower as Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister scored to put them in command.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dominik Szoboszlai grabbed Liverpool\u2019s third just before the interval and Salah took over after the break before Diaz netted again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Punished for Ange Postecoglou\u2019s insistence on sticking to his high defensive line, it was the first time in 10 years that Tottenham had conceded five or more at home in a Premier League game.<\/span><\/p>\n

An eighth league defeat this season leaves Tottenham languishing in 11th place as the pressure mounts on Postecoglou.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Unstoppable Salah \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Foreshadowing the demolition to come, Salah slalomed past three Tottenham defenders and blasted against the crossbar in the early stages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s pressure reaped its deserved reward in the 23d minute as Trent Alexander-Arnold\u2019s inch-perfect cross arced towards Diaz, who headed past Fraser Forster from six yards.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tottenham fans released black balloons in protest at chairman Daniel Levy\u2019s reign midway through the first half.<\/span><\/p>\n

They became even more deflated in the 36th minute as Liverpool struck again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Szoboszlai climbed to meet Andrew Robertson\u2019s cross and the ball deflected kindly for Mac Allister to nod beyond Forster from close range.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s focus briefly wobbled as Mac Allister was robbed by Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison rifled home from 18 yards.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Szoboszlai quickly restored the two-goal lead, capping a typically incisive raid in the final seconds before half-time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Salah took Szoboszlai\u2019s flick in stride and returned a clever reverse pass to the midfielder, who took a touch before planting his shot through Forster\u2019s legs.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before the unstoppable Salah got on the scoresheet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cody Gakpo slipped a pass into the six-yard box in the 54th minute and, when Tottenham failed to clear, Salah was on hand to tap in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Salah bagged his sixth goal in his last five games in all competitions seven minutes later with another close-range finish from Szoboszlai\u2019s pass.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dejan Kulusevski\u2019s 72nd-minute volley from just inside the area was followed by Dominic Solanke\u2019s close-range effort in the 83rd minute as Tottenham hit back.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Salah provided a fitting coda to his eye-catching display two minutes later with a precise pass that Diaz converted to ensure the scoreline reflected Liverpool\u2019s supremacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

AFP<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liverpool swept four points clear at the top of the Premier League as Mohamed Salah\u2019s masterclass inspired a memorable 6-3 rout of Tottenham on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9781,828,9782,933,2300],"class_list":["post-21445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-diaz","tag-liverpool","tag-nine-goal-thriller","tag-salah","tag-spurs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21445"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21447,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21445\/revisions\/21447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}