Jurgen Klopp hails ‘goalscoring machine’ Mohamed Salah in pulsating Liverpool win over Newcastle United

Jurgen Klopp hailed goalscoring machine Mohamed Salah after his two goals helped Liverpool to a thrilling a 4-2 win over Newcastle United at Anfield.

Salah scored twice, which included redemption from the penalty spot after missing his first chance from 12 yards, ahead of joining Egypt’s squad at the African Cup of Nations.

“Mo is a goal scoring machine,” the Liverpool manager told Sky Sports.

“It would have helped if he'd scored the first penalty, but it's all fine and that's how it is.

“It is extremely special. Darwin [Nunez] had chances too. I would say 99.9% of players would have finished it themselves but he chose to pass it [for Salah’s first goal]. It was a special game and a special night."

Klopp also paid tribute to Nunez in detail for another tireless display, despite now scoring just once in his last 11 appearances across all competitions.

"Of course he's not happy with not scoring,” Klopp explained.

“I saw him involved. Football is a pretty simple game, put the ball in the back of the net but that boy has to do a lot of stuff to do besides that.

“He kept [Sven] Botman and [Fabian] Schar together. We needed him there. As long as Darwin has these moments then it's all fine. Darwin will score. Social media is a bit of a disturbance slightly. No-one has to worry about Darwin. He played a really good game with a really unselfish pass to Mo [Salah] and he scored a goal."

A comical moment at full-time saw Klopp lose his wedding ring on the pitch after getting caught up in the post-match celebrations. To his relief, he managed to find it in the turf thanks to a TV cameraman.

"That would have been really awful. I lost it in the sea once and needed a professional diver. I had a massive shock, but it's back," he added.

Meanwhile, Eddie Howe was left bemoaning two key penalty decisions which went against his side on the night.

Newcastle were denied a spot-kick when Sean Longstaff was sent tumbling inside the box by Waturu Endo, seconds before Curtis Jones re-established Liverpool’s lead at 2-1.

The Reds were then awarded their second penalty of the match when Martin Dubravka was penalised for a challenge on Diogo Jota.

"I didn't think the second one was a penalty. And I did think Sean Longstaff's one before that was,” Howe added to Sky Sports.

"It shouldn't be given. Martin has pulled his hand away. He's had two steps before going down. For me it's not a penalty. Even the first one the contact was so minimal. We feel hard done by.”

Howe’s team have now suffered three consecutive Premier League defeats, but is backing his players to turn their form around.

"You have to have the mindset that you create your luck. Feeling sorry for yourself never has any positive outcome,” he explained.

"The players gave everything. I back the quality of the group. In time we'll get the results we need.”

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