Liverpool head coach Arne Slot lauded Mohamed Salah and saluted the hiss big-game mentality after his star forward scored the equaliser in the 2-2 draw at Arsenal.
The resilience of Salah and his Liverpool team mates was clearly evident after a dramatic encounter at Arsenal, with the Reds twice coming from behind to secure a hard-earned 2-2 Premier League draw at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.
Salah and Virgil van Dijk netted in each half to equalise earlier strikes from Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino.
Salah’s 81st-minute strike moved him up to eighth alongside Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler in the all-time Premier League scoring list on 163 goals.
And with the Egyptian now having 15 goal contributions in 13 games this season, Slot has praised the manner in which the 32-year-old continues to deliver.
“His finishing is remarkable,” said the Reds boss. “But it’s that he’s also available for us as well. That’s one of the things top players have. They are always available and they show up in big games.
“Today was a big game for us again, just like last week against Chelsea where he showed up with a goal and an assist as well. That’s also what you need if you are a big club like we are, like Arsenal.
“You need these quality players because if you don’t have them it’s going to be quite difficult to get results.
“It’s something you need to have as a club to have these players who can make the difference to you and Mo was that offensively today, although I think we have to give credit to Darwin (Nunez) and Trent (Alexander-Arnold) today for that goal.”
Of the game, Slot added: “We went two times behind against a very strong and good Arsenal team. To get a point is pleasing to see especially because I had to play an away game in Europe this week.
“We had one day less to recover and prepare. To go two times behind with the fans being so loud and us coming back so strong in the second half because I think we deserved to be 2-1 down at half-time, it was very pleasing to see we had the energy and we were so strong to fight back in the second half.”
Liverpool remain four points ahead of third-placed Arsenal and the draw means they now trail new leaders Manchester City by a point.
Slot, though, was cautious not to be drawn into title talk.
“I know you guys (the media) like to talk about title contenders and where we are exactly in the league, that’s also part of your job,” he said. “The only thing I look at is can we get a result in a difficult away game like this one and the way we did it pleased me a lot.
“We’re only nine games into the season but to see that we can compete with such a strong Arsenal team at their stadium is pleasing to see, but what that will lead to at the end of the season, I can’t tell you.”