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Soccer-Salah records landmark assist in Brighton win after a turbulent week
SOCCER-ENGLAND-LIV-BHA:Soccer-Salah records landmark assist in Brighton win after a turbulent week
LIVERPOOL, England, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Liverpool manager Arne Slot said it was an easy decision to include talisman Mohamed Salah in the squad for Saturday's 2-0 Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albion, despite a turbulent week following the forward's scathing criticism of the team.
Salah was subsequently left at home for Liverpool's 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan on Tuesday, but he was one of the Reds' best players on Saturday at Anfield, to the delight of fans who welcomed him with a standing ovation.
Salah's assist for Hugo Ekitike's second goal gave him the outright record for the most goal involvements for a single team in Premier League history with 277, passing Wayne Rooney's 276 with Manchester United.
"It was an easy decision to put him in the squad and I've said many times before what has been said between the two of us, for me that stays between the two of us," Slot told Sky Sports.
"He was back in the squad again and we needed him because he was the first substitution I made. He assisted for the 2-0 for the corner kick which is also very nice for us because we have been so many times this season on the wrong side of the set-piece battle."
The fans threw their support behind Salah, singing his name as he walked into the tunnel after the final whistle.
A smiling Salah turned down post-game interview requests, telling reporters: "Two weeks in a row? No, no, no."
The forward now heads to the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, which runs until January 18.
"This is what we knew before the season started," Slot said. "Hopefully one or two players from injury can come back."
Salah had accused the club of throwing him "under the bus" and claimed his relationship with Slot had broken down in a fiery outburst that came after last weekend's 3-3 draw at Leeds United, the third successive game in which Slot had left the 33-year-old, the Premier League's top scorer last season, on the bench.
He suggested during that post-match interview that the Brighton game might be his last for the club.
"I said to (my family), come to the Brighton game. I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it," Salah told reporters. "In my head, I’m going to enjoy that game because I don’t know what is going to happen now.
"I will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go to the Africa Cup of Nations. I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there."
Slot and Salah held what British media called positive talks on Friday after the Dutch coach told reporters he had "no reasons to not want him to stay."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris and Toby Davis)
