Liverpool’s star forward Mohamed Salah is looking like he is beginning to rediscover the form that made him one of the best players in the world last season. Salah not only scored a hat-trick in Liverpool’s 1-7 UEFA Champions League win over Glasgow Rangers on Wednesday night but also did that faster than anyone else in the history of the competition.
Salah started the match against the Rangers on the bench and wasn’t introduced until the 68th minute when Liverpool was already 1-3 ahead. The 30-year-old player didn’t need much time to make an impact, scoring a goal in the 75th minute to make it 1-4. And then he added two more in 60th and 61st minute, completing a six-minute hat-trick, which now stands as a UCL record.
The previous record-holder was veteran French striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who needed eight minutes to score a hat-trick in Lyon’s 7-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb in 2011.
Liverpool didn’t take the foot off the gas even then and managed to pack one more in the Rangers’ net. Midfielder Harvey Elliott scored in the 87th minute to make it 1-7.
“All the goals we scored were exceptional,” said Liverpool’s head coach Jurgen Klopp. “Mo [Salah] came on and is on fire and interprets the position really well. It is a night where things work out for us.”
Liverpool is now second in Group A and has all but secured a place in the knockout stage. The Premier League powerhouse has six points ahead of third-placed Ajax with only two games left to be played.
