And that’s why you don’t take off Mohamed Salah

With one swing of his left boot, all the frustration of the previous 94 minutes at Turf Moor was forgotten.

Mohamed Salah leapt for joy in front of the elated away supporters before being mobbed by his team-mates.

The more things change at Liverpool, the more they stay the same. Once again the Egyptian attacker was basking in the glory of being their match-winner.

Salah held his nerve to hammer the last-gasp penalty past Martin Dubravka after Hannibal had handled Jeremie Frimpong’s cross deep into stoppage time.

His 188th Premier League goal moved him above Andrew Cole into outright fourth place in the competition’s all-time scoring list.

“We don’t give up,” Salah told Sky Sports. “We just try to push ourselves to the limit.”

Liverpool, who extended their perfect start to the season, became the first side in Premier League history to clinch victory in four consecutive matches thanks to a winning goal inside the final 10 minutes.

*Data collector Opta classifies Chiesa’s go-ahead goal as Liverpool’s winner against Bournemouth

Six of their last nine 90th-minute or later winners in the top flight have either been scored or assisted by Salah. It’s little wonder that Arne Slot opted to keep him out there when he rang the changes in an increasingly desperate search for a breakthrough on Sunday.

Salah had endured a difficult afternoon. His touch repeatedly let him down and there was precious little space for him to operate in as newly promoted Burnley sat deep and defended in numbers. He won just one of the six duels he contested and didn’t have a shot until he stepped up to take the spot kick.

Rather than take Salah off when Frimpong was introduced in the closing stages, Slot substituted defender Ibrahima Konate and went for broke. Liverpool effectively ended the game with a front five of Rio Ngumoha, Cody Gakpo, Salah, Federico Chiesa and Frimpong.

With 81 per cent possession, 27 shots to three and 55 touches in the opposition box compared to just two, Salah belatedly ensured that the champions’ dominance was rewarded. Fortune ultimately favoured the brave, although Liverpool had made life tough for themselves with a lack of quality in the final third.

“When you need a goal and things are not going really well, I thought about almost every substitution,” Slot said. “In the end, you always come back to: ‘I don’t want to leave this stadium with a draw thinking I didn’t bring in all my attackers, all the guys who can score a goal’. In another game, you maybe wonder if it’s worth the risk, but against a team that plays with 11 players in their own 18-yard box, that’s not, I think, a big risk.

“As for taking Mo off, if you need a goal, it will probably happen this season or maybe next season, but it probably won’t happen a lot.”

Salah’s form has been the subject of debate so far this season. He hasn’t come flying out of the blocks like he did last August when he dazzled with three goals and three assists in Liverpool’s opening four matches.

That proved to be a launchpad for him to go on and shatter a whole host of records en route to winning both the Premier League golden boot (29 goals) and playmaker (18 assists) awards. He was deservedly crowned both Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year and Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year.

Those heroics also earned him a new two-year contract on around £400,000 per week plus bonuses. With Salah having turned 33 in June, critics are ready to pounce on any evidence that he’s finally in decline. After all, he can’t keep Father Time at bay forever.

Liverpool had one eye on the future when they revamped their attack this summer. Alexander Isak is 25, Hugo Ekitike is 23, and Florian Wirtz is 22. Frimpong, who is expected to deputise wide on the right when Salah goes off to the Africa Cup of Nations in December, is 24.

Being less reliant on Salah is crucial, especially as he will be missing for such a pivotal period of the season. In 2024-25, Salah either scored or assisted a remarkable 55 per cent of Liverpool’s 86 league goals.

Isak was left out of the squad to face Burnley because Slot felt he would benefit more from a “hard, tough” training session at Kirkby on Saturday, followed by a recovery day on Sunday. The Sweden international is expected to make his debut against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League at Anfield on Wednesday night.

When Isak is up to speed physically and Wirtz is fully adjusted to his new surroundings, Liverpool should be blessed with match-winners, but Salah’s importance remains significant.

Yes, he hasn’t sparkled in the opening month of the campaign like he can, but he scored late on to seal victory over Bournemouth on the opening night, created Ngumoha’s late winner at Newcastle United, and then dispatched that decisive penalty at Turf Moor. Two goals and an assist in four games is some crisis.

There are also mitigating circumstances when it comes to things not quite clicking for him performance-wise. Having been used to linking up with Trent Alexander-Arnold down Liverpool’s right side for so many years, Salah has played in front of five different right-backs already this season. Frimpong, Wataru Endo, Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai have all had stints there.

And then you have how the dynamic has changed in terms of Liverpool’s attack, with Hugo Ekitike operating through the middle and a new No 10 in Wirtz. The sense of understanding between them will grow as they play more together.

“We had a few new players in the starting line-up. It takes time to adapt their game to our game,” Salah said to Sky Sports afterwards. “We try to make them comfortable. Alex also came last week and he’s going to be in the team. We try to find the balance.”

Burnley have been something of a bogey team for Salah. Sunday was only the second time he’s scored against them in 11 appearances in his career. With crosses overhit and passes misplaced, he cut an irritated figure at times, but as he so often does, he had the last laugh.

(Top photo: Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images)

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