Mohamed Salah continued his majestic run of form by scoring in his sixth straight appearance for Liverpool against title rivals Manchester City on Sunday. And what a goal it was!
Indeed, the 29-year-old became the first Reds player to score in six games in a row since April 2018, when Salah himself scored in seven on the spin for Jurgen Klopp's side.
Skipping forward to a weekend when Paris Saint-Germain's expensively assembled strike force of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar failed to muster a single shot on target in their dismal defeat against Rennes, Salah proved his worth to Liverpool all over again with a virtuoso outing at Anfield.
Having already provided the assist for Sadio Mane's 59th-minute opener, Salah put the Reds ahead for a second time in the 76th with a goal that was all his own making.
Picking the ball up wide on the right, the Egyptian drifted through four bamboozled defenders like a fine mist before clipping home a sublime angled finish across Ederson.
ππππ π ππ«π’π§π π₯π² π π¨π¨π π±
β Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 3, 2021
A goal we'll never tire of watching. Out of this world from @MoSalah π pic.twitter.com/mZEq9OI0Wx
Alas, Salah's superb solo effort wasn't enough to earn Liverpool all three points as Kevin De Bruyne soon restored parity for City and the game finished 2-2, but it certainly got the footballing world off their seats in unison.
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The official Liverpool social media channels were quick to offer their tributes to Salah after watching him single-handedly tear Pep Guardiola's defence apart.
this is a Mo Salah stan account pic.twitter.com/LCKipuGb3Z
β Liverpool FC USA (@LFCUSA) October 3, 2021
Mo Salah is just absolutely unbelievable at football.
β Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 3, 2021
πͺπ¬π pic.twitter.com/a7zEmgegFe
Which led to a certain club stakeholder and celebrity fan -- namely NBA superstar LeBron James -- to excitedly echo the Reds' sentiments.
YES HE IS!! https://t.co/FZbKa3VDv7
β LeBron James (@KingJames) October 3, 2021
The goal drew instant comparisons to some of the Premier League's greatest slalom strikes, including Eden Hazard's one-man torpedo sprint against Arsenal and Son Heung-Min's 2020 Puskas Award-winning dash against Burnley.
One of the #PL's great solo goals π€©
β Premier League (@premierleague) September 27, 2021
Eden Hazard at his brilliant best πΏ pic.twitter.com/WVOfWK5T6R
Even FIFA themselves applauded Salah's silken handiwork, which perhaps puts him in good stead once the 2021 Puskas nominations are eventually announced.
π #MondayMotivation brought to you by @MoSalah πpic.twitter.com/vlqIHAkKn2
β FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) October 4, 2021
Salah was quite rightly bestowed with Liverpool's in-house Player of the Match award but there was some consternation when Sky Sports named Phil Foden as the joint-winner of the main award.
We thought it might be π Sensational yet again.
β Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 3, 2021
An incredible goal and an assist for @MoSalah, who is your Player of the Match! #LIVMCI pic.twitter.com/hAAeR52lku
When you hear Salah and Foden were awarded joint Man Of The Match π pic.twitter.com/bgn1fgtz1I
β ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) October 3, 2021
Salah has made nine appearances in all competitions this season, scoring nine goals and providing three assists. Furthermore, no single player has been directly involved in more Premier League goals (five goals, three assists) than the Egyptian thus far.
This led to one particular question being asked numerous times and by numerous people.
Mo Salah is the best player in the world right now... prove us wrong π pic.twitter.com/yN1k1nBP8P
β ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 3, 2021
Though it should be mentioned that Bayern Munich's seemingly ageless goal machine Robert Lewandowski at least deserves consideration.
Twitter: Mohamed Salah has nine goals in nine games and is the best player in the world right now.
β Stefan Bienkowski (@SBienkowski) October 3, 2021
Me, aware that Robert Lewandowski already has 13 goals in 10 games: pic.twitter.com/G4BfDR8WlW
Either way, it's safe to say that Salah has comprehensively turned it round since February, when the injury-riddled Reds were hopelessly out of form and dropping points all over the place.
Indeed, things got so bad for the defending champions that their striker felt obliged to share his concerns on the matter on Twitter.
Salah has 22 goals/assists in 26 starts since this post. https://t.co/7gSEZMZ8sk
β Raj Chohan (@rajsinghchohan) October 3, 2021
With 22 goals and assists (17 goals, five assists) in 26 starts in all competitions since that dark day, it looks very much like Salah is a man on a mission to right the wrongs of last season.
Defenders of the world, beware.