It was a historic night for the Egyptian.
Mohamed Salah scored his 50th Champions League goal as Liverpool cruised into the quarter-finals with a 4-0 win over Galatasaray at Anfield.
The Reds trailed 1-0 from the first leg in Istanbul, but the slender nature of Galatasaray’s advantage meant it was always likely to prove a difficult night for the Turkish side, and so it proved as Liverpool ran riot.
Dominik Szoboszlai levelled the tie on aggregate with a smart finish in the 25th minute and, though Salah missed a penalty late in the first half, Liverpool reaped the rewards of their dominance in the second.
Salah was the provider as Hugo Ekitike completed the turnaround, before Ryan Gravenberch effectively put the tie beyond doubt after the Egyptian had again been denied by the overworked Galatasaray goalkeeper Uhurcan Cakir.
But Salah did finally etch his name into the history books with a trademark curling effort just after hour mark, becoming the first African player to reach 50 goals in the Champions League.
There was a a slight blot on a joyous evening for Liverpool as Salah was forced off with an injury, and the Reds will hope that blow is not too serious, with the first leg of their quarter-final with Paris Saint-Germain to come next month, just days after an FA Cup quarter-final with Manchester City.
Salah will at least have the international break to try to recover in time for those games. Liverpool face Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday before club football takes a breather.
Szoboszlai sets Liverpool turnaround in motion
Liverpool were dominant from the off but, as has so often been the case this season, it took a moment of inspiration from Szoboszlai to break the deadlock.
The Hungarian, who had called for greater unity between players and fans in the wake of last Sunday’s draw with Tottenham, found the bottom-left corner with an intelligent side-footed effort from a clever corner routine.
Salah failed to lob Cakir after a poor defensive header gifted him a chance to make it 2-0, with Florian Wirtz then seeing a strike deflected over before Szoboszlai tested Cakir with a fierce long-range drive.
Ismail Jakobs gifted Salah another opportunity for his half-century when he tripped Szoboszlai while attempting to clear, yet Cakir was equal to a poor penalty. The Galatasaray shot-stopper produced further heroics to preserve parity in the tie before half-time, making a fine double save to further frustrate Salah and then Wirtz.
Salah finally gets his moment
Yet there was nothing he could do to prevent Ekitike from tucking home from a perfectly weighted low ball from the right from Salah six minutes into the second half.
Two minutes later, Gravenberch was on hand to fire home on the rebound from another Salah opportunity gone begging, and it appeared it was 4-0 when Wilfried Singo turned into his own net, only for Gala to be handed a reprieve by VAR.
However, there would be no rescue from Salah’s landmark goal, which came as he bent home in glorious fashion after good work from the impressive Wirtz.
Salah then hit the bar prior to being withdrawn through injury, with MacAllister denied on the follow-up before Ekitike headed narrowly over.
Liverpool did let their foot off the gas eventually, but they still managed to put the ball in the net again, albeit with a foul on Cakir by Virgil van Dijk ensuring that Mac Allister’s effort from point-blank range did not count.
