Jurgen Klopp didn’t expect to see Mo Salah take our penalty last night.
The team orders were that James Milner was on spot-kicks, with Liverpool’s recent record from 12-yards fairly miserable.
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Before last night, we’d actually missed more than we’d scored this season.
But having not scored a goal yet, the Egyptian took control and asked the vice-captain for the ball. Milner, ever the professional, obliged – and thankfully – Salah bagged his 26th of the campaign.
Klopp wasn’t at all annoyed though and actually liked seeing a player take responsibility on the pitch.
“I wanted it exactly like that,” he told the Echo. “I love when players discuss on the pitch.
“It’s all my fault, I thought it was clear (who was taking it) but obviously I left some space for interpretation. I was not 100% clear!
“At the end, the ball is in which we didn’t have too often this season – so yippee! Maybe Mo will qualify for the next one as well.
“I thought it was clear, but they discussed it and it’s all good. It’s better that you have two or three who want to take it than nobody to take it. The discussion was still OK.”
We remember when Mario Balotelli took a penalty off Jordan Henderson and the rhetoric was not congratulatory, despite the Italian scoring!
Salah’s a completely different, better player though – so we’ll let him off.
If it means he can take and score our spot-kicks from now on – fantastic.