LIVERPOOL, England (AP) - Mohamed Salah capitalized on some quick thinking by Liverpool to maintain his impressive scoring record at Anfield in a 2-0 win over last-place Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
Straight after Fulham had a goal disallowed for offside, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson took a quick free kick to find right back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who played in Salah to race in on goal and open the scoring in the 41st minute.
There were just 14 seconds between the flag being raised for offside and Salah finding the net at the other end of the field.
Xherdan Shaqiri scored the other goal in the 53rd minute, a cushioned volley into the corner from Andrew Robertson’s deep cross, as unbeaten Liverpool won for the ninth time in its opening 12 games.
In six league games at home, Salah has scored in five of them - the only blank coming against title rival Manchester City. The Egypt forward has 34 goals in 36 appearances at Anfield since joining Liverpool in the offseason of 2017.
It was a seventh straight loss for Fulham in all competitions, keeping the pressure on manager Slavisa Jokanovic heading into the two-week international break. The London team’s only win since returning to the Premier League was in late August and it hasn’t scored a goal in its last three league losses.
While Salah could yet match his prolific scoring from last season, when he finished as the league’s top scorer with 32 goals, two more factors are making Liverpool a more irresistible force as the team looks to become English champion for a 19th time - and first since 1990.
Bought from relegated Stoke for 13 million pounds ($17.2 million), Shaqiri is proving to be an astute offseason purchase by manager Juergen Klopp, with the playmaker mostly being used for the easier matches to give Liverpool some creativity when faced with packed defenses. In the past three weeks, he has set up the winner for Salah at Huddersfield, scored at home to Cardiff and now Fulham.
Liverpool also has rarely been as resolute at the back: This was its seventh clean sheet in the league, with the team yet to concede more than one goal in a game.
“We scored a lot of goals last season,” Robertson said, “but this season we have been solid at the back as well.”
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