Liverpool have a star in Rio Ngumoha — can Arne Slot trust him against PSG? | OneFootball

Even as eras draw to a close, others can start. If it is the beginning of the end for Mohamed Salah, it might be the beginning of something wonderful for Rio Ngumoha. Liverpool’s scorers in defeating Fulham were 33 and 17, one almost double the age of the other, the older man soon to be the past, the younger boy looking very much the future.

“Not only the long future but also the near future,” said Slot. As the farewell to Salah grows nearer but the introduction to Ngumoha shows there should be life in the forward line after the legend. On Salah’s first appearance at Anfield since he announced his departure, he was serenaded almost from the off – Andy Robertson, another of Jurgen Klopp’s great team who is heading for the exit, was hailed first – and the Egyptian king earned a further rendition of his song with his 256th Liverpool goal. Ngumoha’s was just his second. There are 254 between them.

But then there has never been a bigger age gap between Liverpool goalscorers in a league game; the previous largest was between Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister. The Merseysider was still playing when the Scot turned 50 and, likewise, Ngumoha should be when Salah enter his sixth decade. He became Liverpool’s youngest league goalscorer at Anfield, at 17 years and 225 days. Raheem Sterling lost a record as Ngumoha gained one.

Men of different generations struck with certain similarities. Finishes were curled into the far corner. The second was a trademark Salah strike; perhaps in time the first will become a trademark Ngumoha goal. As it was, Slot said: “It was like a Mo Salah goal.” A level of audacity when dribbling is certainly becoming characteristic from Ngumoha. “He has a quality you don’t see very often in football, dominating the one-on-one,” said Slot. It was partly the fearlessness of youth, partly the talent of a prodigy. For Liverpool, tormented by the trickery of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in Paris on Wednesday, is a case for responding in kind by starting with Ngumoha in Tuesday’s second leg. “I think he is ready,” said Slot. “The question, of course, is can he do this two days later?”

Barring a spectacular turnaround against Paris Saint-Germain, Salah only has four more games at Anfield. Maybe that gave the Kop an added reason to savour this, and he was recalled.

Liverpool were wingless, if not necessarily wondrous, in the Parc des Princes. Slot ditched the back five he used against PSG and brought back his wingers: three in total, with Cody Gakpo as the centre-forward. It became an advertisement for width in attack, though Slot would always prefer to have wingers anyway.

After a back five in France, Liverpool had a front four on Merseyside. They began applying pressure, if fashioning few clear-cut chances. Then Ngumoha forged a breakthrough. He turned Timothy Castagne one way and then the other. A jinking run was followed by a classy finish. “It's a special goal,” said Ngumoha. Remarkably, he has scored a league goal for Liverpool at Anfield before Alexander Isak. Slot had seen it coming. “In training sessions during the last month we saw he got more and more power to hit the ball as he did today,” he added.

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Ngumoha became the youngest player to score a Premier League goal at Anfield with a curling strike (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

A second goal followed four minutes later from a move featuring each of the second-string front three, with Ngumoha providing the initial injection, Gakpo moving the ball on to Salah and him supplying the first-time finish, curled across the goalkeeper in trademark fashion. Salah patted the badge on his chest.

“The game was decided in five minutes and our approach was not aggressive enough on and off the ball,” rued Fulham manager Marco Silva. His side had one notable chance before the break when Giorgi Mamardashvili, carrying where he left off in Paris, saved well from Oscar Bobb. Silva’s dissatisfaction was then apparent in a half-time double change. His replacements threatened to make a difference. Sasa Lukic found the net a minute after coming on, but he was offside. Emile Smith Rowe volleyed just wide from 12 yards. “We have a big chance with Emile and the game could be completely different,” added Silva. It was Fulham’s first game for 22 days; he felt they ought to have taken advantage of the fact Liverpool played only three days earlier. That was a reason Slot made five changes, but two of those he brought in scored.

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Salah began his Anfield farewell by doubling Liverpool’s lead in their victory over Fulham (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Liverpool’s 1500th league win at Anfield was a restorative result, after their previous three league games had yielded a solitary point. It was a first Premier League win since February. The damage came in the loss of Curtis Jones with a groin problem that renders him a doubt for Tuesday.

“This whole season, so many things have repeated themselves. Every time when something positive happens, someone, somewhere makes sure that it cannot only be a positive, so there must be an injury involved after a good win,” rued Slot.

Otherwise, Ngumoha’s excellence meant the complaints from the crowd were confined to the ticket price rises that have been announced. The fans told the owners in no uncertain terms where they could stick them. Those more expensive tickets will not bring the chance to watch Salah; but Ngumoha should offer them something worth seeing, even for the greater cost.