Sadio Mane netted his 100th Premier League goal, Mohammed Salah converted an absolutely world-class finish, and Roberto Firmino bagged a hatrick in what was a perfect night for the Reds.
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Liverpool’s front three were at their scoring best as the Reds beat Watford 5-0 in the English Premier League (EPL) on Saturday. Roberto Firmino scored a brilliant hat-trick, Mohammed Salah netted a peach of a goal, and Sadio Mane scored his 100th EPL goal to cap off a perfect night for the 19-time champions. The win saw Liverpool going to the top of the league table after playing eight matches and securing 18 points. It was a rough return to the Premier League for Claudio Ranieri who has been recently appointed the new manager of Watford. His team did have a good spell with the ball towards the end of the game but just could not get past Caoimhin Kelleher, Liverpool’s second-choice goalkeeper as Allison was unavailable for selection owing to England’s quarantine measures for players returning after international duty from South America.
It only took nine minutes for Jurgen Klopp’s men to take the lead through Mane. The Senegalese latched on to a beautiful cross by Salah. The Egyptian had won the second ball from Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster’s ball upfield to create the chance for his teammate. Mane made no mistake as he coolly slotted the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the Reds, and also to bring up a century of goals in his Premier League career.
Firmino doubled the visitors’ lead in the 37th minute as veteran footballer James Milner played an inch-perfect grounded cross from the left-hand side into the Watford penalty area. The Brazilian got on the end of it and rolled the ball into an empty net.
The Brazilian scored Liverpool’s third goal in the 52nd minute. Andy Robertson played a cross looking for Salah but Watford defender Craig Cathcart slid in to prevent the ball from reaching the Egyptian. However, it went towards his own net and Foster had to make a save. Unfortunately for the Hornets, the rebound fell to Firmino who made no mistake to make it 3-0 in favour of the Reds.
Salah scored the fourth for Jurgen Klopp’s men and it was a thing of beauty. Just after two minutes of netting his second goal of the match, Firmino passed the ball to Salah in a crowded Watford penalty box. The Egyptian danced past three Watford defenders and curled the ball past Foster to make it 4-0 to the visitors. The goal could very well be one of the contenders for the goal of the season.
Watford did have a good spell with the ball in the final 10 minutes of the match as they created a few chances that actually seemed quite threatening. Veteran midfielder Moussa Sissoko played brilliantly in that period to create the chances for the forwards. However, none could put the ball in the back of the net.
The final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Firmino who got his third and Liverpool’s fifth goal of the match in the 91st minute. The Reds’ young right back Nico Williams skipped past Danny Rose into the box and played a delightful ball towards the far post where Firmino was waiting. The Brazilian passed the ball into an open net and scored a much-deserved hat-trick.
