GiveMeSport
·13 Agustus 2023
Mohamed Salah was fuming with his substitution during Chelsea vs Liverpool

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·13 Agustus 2023
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Mohamed Salah let his emotions be known to all with a frustrated reaction to being substituted off against Chelsea in his side's opening Premier League fixture of the season.
Liverpool kicked off their 2023/24 campaign with a very end-to-end encounter with the Blues at Stamford Bridge in the highest-profile fixture of the weekend.
Two sides that have been battling for the signature of Moises Caicedo could not be separated on the pitch as they saw out a lively 1-1 draw. Both sides had chances to sneak a winner in, but the points were shared in the end.
The scoring was opened when Salah was set free down the right-hand side by new signing - Alexis Mac Allister - before cutting insdie and picking out a wonderful defence splitting pass to Luis Diaz.
A clean connection with the left foot of the Colombian saw the ball fly into the bottom corner of the net, leaving Robert Sanchez with no chance on his debut.
Liverpool's Egyptian winger thought he had extended his side's lead after creating the first goal, as he found the back of the net after latching onto an inch perfect Trent Alexander-Arnold pass - only to be denied by VAR for a marginal offside.
The visitor's heads appeared to drop following the disallowed goal as Chelsea found their stride and composure in the second part of the opening 45 minutes.
Axel Disasi bundled the ball past Alisson on his home debut to level the scores before Ben Chilwell thought he had put the hosts in front only moments later.
The English full-back found himself through on goal, where he then calmly rounded the goalkeeper and finished on his right foot. However, as was the case with Salah, a marginal offside call denied the goal much to the relief of Jurgen Klopp's side.
The second half continued as an end-to-end spectacle for the neutral to enjoy, and fans involved with either side to dread. A main talking point was not something many would have expected however with a lack of goals.
With 15 minutes remaining in the tie, Klopp made the decision to withdraw Diaz and Salah to give young duo, Harvey Elliott and Ben Doak, a chance to impress.
It is fair to say Salah was far from impressed at his manager's choice, with an uncharacteristically angry reaction boiled over as he made his way off the field.
Having seen his number on the fourth official's board, the winger made his way to the dug out while shaking his head and removing his wrist tape in a frustrated manner. Each bit of tape being thrown to the Stamford Bridge turf saw more and more taunting from his former home crowd.
He is known as a player that does not like to spend time off the pitch when it can be prevented, and in that moment he also saw his record of scoring in six consecutive Premier League opening day fixtures come to an end.
While it can be assumed that Salah was not directing his anger at the players being brought on in his place, there was no acknowledgement of his boss once he had exited the pitch, with Klopp also uninterested.
You can watch the incident for yourselves below.
It is not the first time Klopp has had to deal with this type of issue during his reign at Anfield, with Sadio Mane showing an equally rage-filled reaction to being brought off at Turf Moor previously.
And speaking about the incident after the game, Klopp said that he completely understood Salah's frustrations.
"I can understand because if Mo scored it would have been a new record for goals scored in the opening game but I didn't think about that," the coach told Sky Sports, per BBC Sport. "We needed stability and we needed fresh legs. It was super intense for everybody.
"That's all I can say about it, his reaction was absolutely okay. When I sub a player and he is jumping in to my arms at 1-1 and he is a striker who thinks he will score, I would be really surprised so that's absolutely fine."
Salah will be eager to get on the scoresheet in Liverpool's next fixture. The Reds host Bournemouth on Saturday 19th August, eager to get a first win of the season.