Mohamed Salah second-half moment spoke volumes about change in Liverpool legend

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Liverpool Echo IconSportFootballLiverpool FCIan Doyle with the main talking point after Liverpool earned Premier League victory against Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday eveningIt may have ultimately been mere late consolation on another miserable evening for Liverpool. But Mohamed Salah’s brilliantly-taken strike at Brentford could prove one of the most important goals of the season for Arne Slot.For a myriad of reasons – some unavoidable, some less so – Salah has this campaign too often been a shadow of the player rightly named the Premier League’s best last term.The nagging suspicion has been the Egyptian needing just a spark, a moment to provide the catalyst for a reminder, not least to himself, of his undoubted talents.READ MORE: Steven Gerrard brands Arne Slot Liverpool sack talk 'absolute nonsense'His first-half performance here was indication a corner may well have been turned, easily gaining the better of a spooked Lucas Digne even if not all of the winger’s final touches and decisions matched what went before.But it was that persistence to keep trying, as well as Liverpool’s willingness to set pressing traps during the opening 45 minutes, that allowed Salah to make a difficult finish seem effortless when pouncing first-time on a misdirected pass from Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to open the scoring during additional time before the interval.Salah’s longevity means almost every goal he now bags creates some landmark or record, and this one was no different.His 250th for Liverpool, it also moved the 33-year-old on to 276 goal contributions in the Premier League for the Reds – 188 goals, 88 assists – to equal the record for a single club set by Wayne Rooney at Manchester United.More importantly, it broke open a game Liverpool had been bossing against a strangely-subdued Villa, who were one of the Premier League’s form teams going into this encounter.During the second half, the confidence could be seen coursing back through the veins of Salah, one attempt to relieve pressure on the defence by bringing ball clear seeing him muscle his way beyond several players before eventually behind hounded out.The Anfield crowd roared their approval, as they did at full-time when Salah joined the Reds players in showing their appreciation to the Kop.After his post-match television duties on the pitch, he made his way to Steven Gerrard, standing on the touchline, for a warm embrace.This was an evening of much-needed respite and encouragement for the player, the team and the under-pressure Slot.If Liverpool are going to recover some tangible reward from a campaign after their recent wretched run, they are going to need Salah in this form before he departs for the Africa Cup of Nations before Christmas.Ian DoyleIan Doyle has covered Liverpool for more than 20 years, following them across Europe in multiple Champions League and Europa League finals and as far afield as Thailand, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong and Qatar, and has reported on the Reds winning every major honour.

He previously also covered Everton for 18 years and followed England, reporting on the European Championships and World Cup final. Once had to tell Jude Law he does not drive a Mini.