“The response of the boys was incredible” - Jurgen Klopp opens up on how Liverpool players celebrated Salah’s 200th goal inside dressing room
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has provided a sneak peek of how the team celebrated attacker Mojhamed Salah's 200th goal for the Reds on Saturday (December 9).
In a hard-fought Premier League clash at Crystal Palace, Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring for Palace in the 57th minute. However, the visitors rallied, with Salah hauling them back on level terms 19 minutes later with his landmark strike.
In the first minute of stoppage time at Selhurst Park, the Egyptian turned provider, setting up Harvey Elliott for the winner as Klopp's side moved atop the standings. Klopp told TNT Sports (via Rousing the Kop) that the team had been planning to celebrate Salah's 200th strike for two weeks:
“Obviously, we carried the shirt with the 200 on the back already for two weeks.
"Today we could give it to him in the dressing room, and the response of the boys was incredible. Really loud, loud applause, (they) wanted a speech, but I had to go, I don’t know now if he had one or not!”
Continuing his impressive start to the season, Salah has 14 goals and eight assists in 22 games across competitions as the Reds seek their first league title in three years.
"The aim is to win the Premier League" - Liverpool match-winner Harvey Elliott
Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott made no qualms of his team's intentions to go all the way in the Premier League this season after his stoppage-time winner at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
Elliott, 20, scored his first league goal of the season in 13 games, to go with two assists, having come off the bench with 16 minutes remaining. The Englishman told TNT Sports (as per BBC) about his team's never-say-die spirit as he also lauded Salah for the quality of his finish:
"It's always a great feeling to score, especially to win the game too. Selhurst Park is a hard place to come. We don't give up until the final whistle. My finish today just sums up what I've learned off him. If I spoke about the influence he's had on me then everyone would get bored!"
"We're going in the right direction. There's a lot of the season left. We need to make sure we keep getting the three points, and if we're contenders at the end of the season, then let's go for it. The aim is to win the Premier League."
Liverpool return to action on Thursday (December 14) when they visit Union Saint-Gilloise for their final UEFA Europa League group-stage game.