Jordan Pickford reveals how Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah hoodwinked him in the Merseyside Derby
Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah had a largely off day against Everton in the Merseyside Derby but he still ended up getting the last laugh on the night ahead of Toffees star Jordan Pickford.
The Reds have held the upper hand in the fixtures for years now and little was expected to change this weekend. Everton’s hopes of securing anything from the game plummeted further when Ashley Young was sent off in the first half. The Toffees veteran became the first opposition player since Sadio Mane (then at Southampton) to be sent off for two yellow cards at Anfield.
While the extra man on the pitch swung the tie further in Liverpool’s favour, a mixture of profligacy in front of the goal and some dogged defending restricted the Reds to half-hearted attempts at goal. It all changed in the 75th minute when the Reds were awarded a penalty for Michael Keane’s handball.
Mohamed Salah stepped up to put the ball into the back of the net and broke the deadlock with 15 minutes to go. The well-taken penalty left Toffees goalie Jordan Pickford to the spot, leaving him with no time to respond to the well-struck hit.
Speaking to Premier League Productions (h/t Liverpool Echo), the English international confirmed that he expected Salah to strike the ball down the middle as he usually does and that was the reason why he was caught flat-footed when the Liverpool ace opted to hit the corner. Given the power at which the Egyptian King struck it, we doubt Pickford could have saved it even if it was down the middle.
“He’s a good penalty taker. I just thought, because it was a pressure penalty, he might go down the middle. He’s a good penalty taker and he got one up on me today.”
Salah has the propensity to go down the middle at full power and has on several occasions demonstrated it. Pickford consulted his trusty water bottle for the 31-year-old’s penalty statistics but was powerless to actually do anything about it.
The pressure was on Salah in what was the defining moment of the game. The fact that he held his nerve and broke the deadlock gave Liverpool a grip on the game, leading them to yet another Merseyside Derby win.
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Pickford is gracious enough to admit that Salah is an excellent penalty taker and showed courage under fire in a high-pressure environment. He wrapped up the win late on after beating Pickford once again on the counter after Darwin Nunez played him through. The win took us top of the Premier League, albeit temporarily while Everton continued their tryst with relegation.
