STEVEN GERRARD CAME away impressed with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah after his “moment of magic” against Porto, but doesn’t think it’s quite fair to compare him to Lionel Messi.
Liverpool ran rampant in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie, with hat-trick hero Sadio Mane leading the way in their 5-0 win.
Roberto Firmino and Salah also got into the act, with the Egyptian winger’s goal arguably the highlight of the contest.
After a James Milner shot hit the post, Salah pounced on the rebound, chipped it over Porto goalkeeper Jose Sa, headed it to himself past a diving Diego Reyes and then put it into the empty net to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead.
And that goal left Reds great and current under-18 manager Gerrard impressed, who also thought Porto were simply overwhelmed by the Premier League side’s attack.
“Liverpool have had too much aggression for Porto. They look like they can score every time they go forward,’ Gerrard said on BT Sport .
“And we’ve seen a moment of magic from Mo Salah.
“It’s not fair to the kid, though, to compare him to Messi.”
Wednesday’s win was a long time coming for Liverpool, who had not been in the knockout rounds of the Champions League since the 2008-09 season, when Gerrard was a starring member of the Reds cast.
28 - Liverpool have scored more goals than any other team in the Champions League this season, with 25 of those goals coming across their last five games. Update.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 14, 2018
Salah’s goal was his 30th in all competitions this season, as he became the first Liverpool player to achieve that feat since Luis Suarez in the 2013-14 season. Only Harry Kane has more goals in the top five European leagues this season than Salah.
It was also Salah’s fifth straight game in all competitions with a goal, with the second leg set to take place at Anfield on 6 March.
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