Equating Wayne Rooney’s count at Old Trafford with his 101st strike at Anfield, Mohamed Salah became just the fourth player in Premier League history to score more than 100 goals at the same venue on Sunday.
Given how often he has reveled in that particular surge of adrenaline, that would be challenging. Salah began his trip towards his second century of Premier League goals at Liverpool’s spiritual home with a dainty penalty against Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend. While piling up 101 top-flight goals in front of the same adoring fans is a feat few have ever been able to achieve, a new record appears to topple each time the Egyptian icon comes onto the field.
To reach his 101 Premier League home goals for Manchester United, Rooney needs 201 games at Old Trafford (including three in Everton colours). While Thierry Henry had unmatched success at Arsenal’s Highbury, Sergio Aguero shook in 106 top-flight goals on the other side of the city at the Etihad Stadium.
The French icon has a terrible run of 114 goals in 125 Premier League outings at Arsenal’s former home. Henry rightly scored a hat-trick against Wigan Athletic on the club’s last-ever trip to Highbury in May 2006 to ensure qualifying for the Champions League next season and celebrated his match-winning penalty by kissing that holy ground.
Salah might not have much time?
Salah might not have much time to rip apart his own preferred stomping area. That quotation about never forgetting the feeling of an Anfield goal was included in a cryptic transfer jab. Approaching the last few months of his Liverpool contract, the record-breaking forward has a queue of suitors jumbling over each other to grab him on a free transfer next summer.
Salah is unlikely to top Ian Rush’s amazing 185 goals across all competitions on the red half of Merseyside even if he does remain at Anfield. The large list of luminaries he has previously exceeded in the scoring charts, including Robbie Fowler (117), Kenny Dalglish (104) and Steven Gerrard (104), gives the 32-year-old comfort though.
