{"id":411816,"date":"2019-04-15T05:17:50","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T09:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonfootball.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=411816"},"modified":"2019-04-15T05:17:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T09:17:50","slug":"liverpool-take-top-spot-following-mohamed-salah-wonder-strike-as-chelsea-flounder-once-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2019\/04\/15\/liverpool-take-top-spot-following-mohamed-salah-wonder-strike-as-chelsea-flounder-once-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Take Top Spot Following Mohamed Salah Wonder Strike as Chelsea Flounder Once More"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The visit of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/chelsea\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chelsea<\/a> to Anfield stirred bad memories for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/liverpool\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Liverpool<\/a>. The club still struggle to forget that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/blog\/2019\/apr\/13\/liverpool-banish-memory-gerrard-slip-chelsea-visit?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">slip by Steven Gerrard<\/a> that took the Premier League title away from them in 2014. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/manchester-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Manchester City<\/a> won to briefly go top earlier in the day, with a win over <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/crystal-palace\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Crystal Palace<\/a> before a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/2019\/04\/14\/mohamed-salahs-stunner-keeps-liverpool-in-title-race-after-manchester-city-ease-past-crystal-palace\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mohamed Salah wonder strike<\/a> sent Liverpool back to the top of the table.<\/p>\n<h1><a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/e342ad68\/?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mohamed Salah<\/a> Wonder Strike Lifts Liverpool Back to the Top<\/h1>\n<h2>Back to His Best<\/h2>\n<p>After a dry spell in front of goal, <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/e342ad68\/?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mohamed Salah<\/a> was back doing what he does best when he scored a magnificent solo effort away to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/southampton\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Southampton<\/a>. Back at Anfield against Chelsea, he was kept out by a fine save from <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/28d596a0\/?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kepa Arrizabalaga<\/a>, before going to ground far too easily when <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/c0e27d1a\/?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Luiz<\/a> stuck out a leg but made no contact with the Egyptian striker. One part of his game that he needs to remove is the constant simulation. Salah is a class player and has no need to blot his copybook with such actions.<\/p>\n<p>His 25-yard wonder strike, however, was special. Cutting inside on his left foot he had hit a blue wall, or so it seemed. With little backlift, he then unleashed a powerful, swerving shot that Kepa could only flap at as he saw it fly into the top corner. The Kop and Anfield rose as one to celebrate.<\/p>\n<h2>Chelsea Flounder Once More<\/h2>\n<p>Make no mistake &#8211; Chelsea had their chances in this match. <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/a39bb753\/?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eden Hazard<\/a> on another afternoon could have scored a hat-trick. Alisson pulled off a good save to keep the Belgian out, the post also came to Liverpool\u2019s aid as well as two late chances that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/2019\/04\/12\/keeping-eden-hazard-for-another-season-is-an-option-chelsea-must-consider\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hazard<\/a> would be expected to score.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/e97fd090\/?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ruben Loftus-Cheek<\/a> was lively for the visitors but Callum Hudson-Odoi didn\u2019t last an hour and was disappointing.<\/p>\n<p>This defeat leaves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-6921223\/Liverpool-2-0-Chelsea-Mo-Salah-scores-sensational-25-yard-pile-driver-Reds-maintain-title-push.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chelsea<\/a> a point behind <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/tottenham\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tottenham Hotspur<\/a> in third place with the North London club having a game in hand and a superior goal difference.<\/p>\n<h2>Mohamed Salah\u2019s Opportunism Keeps Eye on the Prize<\/h2>\n<p>Not many players would have seen the opportunity to score like Salah did. It was a sign of his imagination and creativity. It is a Goal of the Season contender.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lfcglobe.co.uk\/liverpool-2-0-chelsea-highlights-and-goals-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Liverpool<\/a> have a two-point cushion at the top of the table, although Manchester City have a superior goal difference and a game in hand to their advantage. Liverpool play their return leg of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/champions-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Champions League<\/a> quarter-final on Wednesday night in Portugal against Porto whilst Chelsea are in action on Thursday against Slavia Prague in the Europa league. Back in the Premier League next weekend, both Chelsea and Liverpool are at home to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/burnley\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Burnley<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/clubs\/cardiff-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cardiff City<\/a> respectively.<\/p>\n<p>This was a huge three points for Liverpool in the title race and Mohamed Salah is hitting imperious form just when they need his talent most.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1><\/h1>\n<p><a id=\"wpbN1GDbT9FV1IN_QJNnpA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1142666375\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'wpbN1GDbT9FV1IN_QJNnpA',sig:'JjU-iXGG81i3YiaXtsAhhW7kowSZwbIAYMAe-tyqiUQ=',w:'594px',h:'393px',items:'1142666375',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The visit of Chelsea to Anfield stirred bad memories for Liverpool. The club still struggle to forget that slip by Steven Gerrard that took the Premier League title away from them in 2014. Manchester City won to briefly go top earlier in the day, with a win over Crystal Palace before a Mohamed Salah wonder [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2488,"featured_media":411860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,2,16],"tags":[46,95,100,1152,40,136],"class_list":["post-411816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-premier-league","category-chelsea","category-featured","category-liverpool","tag-chelsea","tag-liverpool","tag-manchester-city","tag-mohamed-salah","tag-premier-league","tag-world-football"],"modified_by":"Nat Goodlad, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2488"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}