Jürgen Klopp said Mohamed Salah delivered when it mattered for Liverpool after the forward scored just one of 12 chances to seal a 2-1 Premier League win against Brighton at Anfield on Sunday.
Salah’s second-half strike, after being released by Alexis Mac Allister‘s pinpoint pass, completed a Liverpool fightback after Luis Díaz had earlier cancelled out Danny Welbeck‘s second minute opener for Roberto De Zerbi’s team.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
The Egypt international has spurned the most chances in a Premier League fixture since Zlatan Ibrahimović missed 12 while playing for Manchester United against Burnley in October 2016.
But despite Salah’s unusually wasteful finishing, Liverpool manager Klopp paid tribute to the forward’s ability to score the team’s winning goal.
“I imagine Mo [Salah] would have finished all those situations in his career, but that would have been a crazy number,” Klopp told a post match news conference.
“The finishes weren’t as good as he can do, but it’s staying calm with the best chance we had and that is the sign of a great goalscorer.
“It was an unbelievable ball [from Dominik Szoboszlai]. It is the creativity and the quality, seeing that. He sees Macca [Mac Allister] and his first touch is incredible and then he sees Mo.
“How wasteful we were at all the other moments, it was good we had this genius football moment to finish the game off.”
Despite falling behind to Welbeck’s opener, Liverpool avoided falling foul of title jitters by holding their nerve to equalise and then win the game.
Klopp said his team and the club’s fans are not as nervous as they were during previous title challenges.
“In terms of being nervous as a unit, we were more nervous years ago,” Klopp said.
“We would be 1-0 up and nobody would calm down until it was three or four-nil.
“It will be tough and the heart-rate will be at 180 [to] 200 from time to time, but if we enjoy this we have a chance. If we don’t, it will be much more difficult.
“That’s why we have to stay positive in these situations. We are up there with two other teams to win the biggest prize in English football, but we will really try hard to enjoy it.
“That was the first of the last 10 [games], so let’s keep going.”