Difficult end will soon be forgotten as Salah takes his seat among Liverpool legends

Forward has struggled for form and focus this season but Galatasaray display was reminder of his brilliance

It was perhaps as well that Mohamed Salah’s last game before the announcement of his departure from Liverpool was the home game against Galatasaray. After all the frustrations and disappointments of this season, all the games of drifting forlorn and disconnected on the right, after the missed penalty in the first half, here at last was a reminder of the player he had been.

It wasn’t just his goal, a characteristic left-footed whip into the top corner after cutting in from the right after a one‑two with Florian Wirtz, or even the low cross for Hugo Ekitiké’s goal or the fearsome shot that led to Ryan Gravenberch’s; it was the sense of menace, of gleeful mischief, of the way the crowd was gripped by anticipation when the ball came to him. Even if he is not granted another spell like that this season, at least he and Anfield had that chance to remember old times.