Mohamed Salah stars again as Liverpool move closer to Premier League title

Mohamed Salah celebrated his new contract with another Premier League record as Liverpool moved to within two wins of clinching the title despite a lacklustre 2-1 victory over West Ham.

Two days after top-flight defenders had to come to terms with the prospect of another two years of torment from the Egypt international, the Hammers’ 19-year-old wing-back Ollie Scarles found himself in the firing line.

Scarles was turned inside and out by Salah, whose cross for Luis Diaz’s 18th-minute effort was his 45th Premier League goal involvement (27 goals, 18 assists) and the most in a 38-game season.

Salah, favourite for a fourth Golden Boot in eight seasons, is now only two away from the all-time assist record jointly held by fellow Premier League greats Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.

Anfield came to celebrate their ‘Egyptian King’ but in reality other than that and Diaz’s 15th goal of the campaign there was little else to cheer until a late flurry prompted by Andy Robertson’s 86th-minute own goal.

It was Virgil van Dijk’s attempted clearance of Aaron Wan Bissaka’s cross which cannoned off his team-mate but the captain, set to join Salah in soon signing a new contract, made amends by powering home a late header and wheeling away to kiss the badge on his shirt.

Conor Bradley’s start at right-back after last week’s substitute appearance following injury had made a major improvement to the side, as did Alisson Becker’s return as he found himself the busier goalkeeper in the second half as West Ham seized on their hosts’ lethargy.

Salah is on his worst goalscoring drought since February 2023 with no goals in five games but his value to the team was evident in a first half in which Scarles was given a real education.

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