Salah scores 250th goal as Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0 to end woeful run
LIVERPOOL, England :Liverpool finally halted their dreadful losing run with a 2-0 Premier League victory over Aston Villa on Saturday to climb provisionally into third place in the table, as Mohamed Salah became the third player in Reds history to score 250 goals.
Under mounting pressure after four successive league losses - and six in their last seven games across all competitions - Arne Slot's men climbed to within seven points of league leaders Arsenal with 18 points.
"I think everyone who was here today felt the importance of the game, the players and fans as well," Slot told TNT Sports. "We showed character and won the game."
Salah, who has been criticised for his slow start to the season, struck in first-half injury time, capitalising on a huge blunder from Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez who played the ball right into the path of Liverpool's talisman.
Salah finished first time to the relief of the anxious Anfield crowd, and joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players to score 250 goals for the Merseyside club.
Ryan Gravenberch, in his first game after missing three with an ankle injury, doubled the home side's lead in the 58th minute when he blasted a shot from the top of the box that deflected off Pau Torres and in past Martinez.
Slot punched the air in delight as the home fans serenaded the manager.
The crowd chanted "Champions! Champions!" when the final whistle sounded to end what had been the longest current losing run in the league.
"It's very important," Salah told TNT of the win. "We've had a few losses in the Premier League and Champions League. I'm glad we are back on track now, and it's a big push before some important games."
The win comes ahead of a challenging stretch, with Liverpool hosting LaLiga giants Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday before facing Manchester City in a league game at Etihad Stadium on November 9.
Villa started brightly on Saturday with Morgan Rogers firing a shot off the post five minutes into the game, and then Matty Cash forcing a stunning diving save from Giorgi Mamardashvili who tipped the ball over the bar early on.
But Liverpool grew into the game and summer signing Hugo Ekitike, already a big fan favourite at Anfield, celebrated what he thought was Liverpool's first goal of the night late in the first half when he headed home Dominik Szoboszlai's cross. The goal was ruled offside.
Liverpool finished with 16 shots to Villa's nine.
Slot's captain Virgil van Dijk admitted it had not been easy to tune out the negative noise during their run of poor performances.
"We're not going out on the pitch to lose games, we're not going out there to be disappointed or leave fans disappointed," he said. "We want to work our socks off and win games.
"There's no guarantee, you play in the Premier League, the highest level, in the biggest league in the world, and it's difficult to stay calm - but you have to."
Villa's loss ended a four-game winning streak, and saw them fall to 11th place.
"We can feel a bit disappointed but we played the match like we planned," said Villa boss Unai Emery. "(Liverpool) were playing at home and they needed to react (after a string of losses), and they reacted."
