Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah scored against former club Chelsea but the Reds were denied a fourth consecutive Premier League victory by Willian’s late goal.
Salah, who left the Blues last year after a brief and unsuccessful spell at Stamford Bridge, raced onto Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s ball to side-foot home the opener in the second half.
It was Salah’s 10th goal in just 13 Premier League games this season in what has been an incredible start to the Egyptian’s Liverpool career.
That's another to Salah's tally for #LFC! He calmly slots past Courtois to open the scoring! ????
[1-0] #LFC pic.twitter.com/K0H4tXMT2v
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 25, 2017
Chelsea had beaten Qarabag 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday but showed only flashes of their attacking quality in this game.
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But they got lucky in the closing stages when Willian’s apparent cross drifted over Simon Mignolet and into the back of the net.
Chelsea’s are unbeaten in their past six visits to Anfield, a run stretching back to 2012.
Salah, understandably, was the centre of attention in the build up to the match as he faced his former side for the first time since leaving Chelsea for Roma in the summer of 2016.
The 25-year-old made just 17 appearances and six league starts during his two-year spell at Stamford Bridge but has returned to England a much improved player.
Already the Premier League’s top scorer, Salah has been at his most effective when alongside Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino in attack but against Chelsea he had Daniel Sturridge and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for company in Liverpool’s front three.
The triumvirate may have been different but Salah still showed his class. He was Liverpool’s most dangerous player in a first half light on chances, flashing an effort over the bar early on while a promising run along the edge of the box deserved more but there was no team-mate waiting in the box to meet his cut-back.
It felt, though, that Salah’s name was destined to be written into the story of the game and so it proved. He showed great instinct to anticipate Oxlade-Chamberlain’s poked pass and when presented with a clear sight of goal there was little doubt over the outcome.
Salah did not celebrate the strike, which saw him become Liverpool’s highest scorer in a single season since Luis Suarez hit 31 goals in the 2013-14 campaign.
