Gary Neville lauds ‘rampant’ Liverpool genius who’s been giving an ‘exhibition’ against Arsenal | OneFootball

Gary Neville was left in awe of an ‘exhibition’ performance from one Liverpool player in the first half against Arsenal this afternoon.

Anfield has been in party mode for the Reds’ first home match since becoming Premier League champions, and the visit of their closest ‘challengers’ for the title has only added to the delight of Kopites, some of whom taunted Mikel Arteta in banner form before kick-off.

Arne Slot’s side went from 0-0 to 2-0 ahead in the blink of an eye, with 87 seconds separating the goals scored by Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz in front of the Anfield Road Stand.

Neville praises ‘rampant’ Mo Salah

It was one of their teammates who caught Neville’s attention, though, with the ex-Manchester United defender lauding the first-half display of Mo Salah, whose exquisite pass to release Dominik Szoboszlai triggered the move which led to Diaz doubling Liverpool’s lead.

Speaking on co-commentary for Sky Sports (16:54), the 50-year-old gushed: “We are seeing an exhibition from Salah’s passing. Liverpool are rampant.”

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Arsenal couldn’t live with Salah during the first half

Neville’s praise of the Reds’ number 11 is very much merited, not least for what the Egyptian did in the lead-up to the second goal – the pass to pick out Szoboszlai, who outsmarted Arsenal’s attempt at an offside trap, partly explains why the 32-year-old was the resounding choice for Football Writers’ Player of the Season.

He was a tad unfortunate not to have an assist shortly afterwards as he did brilliantly to feed Curtis Jones for a shot that David Raya palmed behind for a corner kick, with the Gunners simply unable to live with the 2024/25 Premier League’s top scorer.

Incredibly Salah only completed five passes in the whole of the first half (Sofascore), but the quality of the aforementioned two was breathtaking, and it was he who was impeded by Myles Lewis-Skelly shortly before the interval to warrant a yellow card from Anthony Taylor.

How Arsenal must wish that they had a forward of the Egyptian King’s generational talents in their squad!