Top 10 Mo Salah moments

Greetings, reader!

Well, the time has come - the 2025/26 Premier League season ends this week, and with that, my favorite club is saying goodbye to one of its all-time legends. Words can't describe how important Mohamed Salah has been to Liverpool FC, how many lives he has changed both on and off the pitch, and how bittersweet it is to say goodbye now that his time has come to move on. From the nine truly special years he spent at the club, these are my favorite Mo Salah moments.

Here are my honorable mentions: Congratulating Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane like a true gentleman right after losing the AFCON final between Egypt and Senegal; Letting Bobby Firmino take the penalty to ensure his first Premier League hattrick; The general brilliance from the Mane-Firmino-Salah attacking trio in the golden days.

10. The historic six-minute hattrick in the Champions League

In October 2022, Liverpool was playing Rangers in the Champions League group stage when Salah came on in the 68th minute. Within seven minutes, he had scored - and the man was just getting started. The Egyptian King scored again in the 80th minute, and again in the 81st, breaking the all-time record for fastest-scored hattrick in the Champions League. Scoring three goals in the span of 6 minutes and 12 seconds, in a tournament for the best of the best, is one of many examples for what a one-of-a-kind maestro of the sport we're dealing with here.

9. His whirlwind of a debut season

Rival fans call Salah a "one season wonder" every now and then, which is utterly ridiculous when you look at the stats - each and every one of the nine years he has spent with Liverpool has resulted in a plethora of goals, assists and MOTM performances. To be fair, the argument that the haters use does stem from the fact that Salah hasn't quite managed to replicate the exact numbers of his debut season in most subsequent seasons - but that's just because his first season with Liverpool was such next-level wizardry that no other player could replicate it either.

After being bought from AS Roma for 34 million pounds, Mohamed Salah spent his first season as a Red scoring 32 goals in 26 league games, winning the Golden Boot (which he would go on to win another three times), and playing a crucial role in helping a still-improving Klopp-era Liverpool reach 4th place in the Premier League, as well as the Champions League final. That's one hell of a way to arrive at your new job.

8. Every single high-pressure penalty, but especially That One

Salah has scored thirty-five penalty kicks, out of fourty-one attempts, for Liverpool FC - that's a pretty dynamite record. Some players freeze under pressure, but not this guy - it has often seemed that the higher the stakes, the more likely it is for him to keep his nerve and give his everything from the spot. Us Liverpool fans will certainly miss the feeling of having such a dependable penalty taker in the squad - and obviously, when reminiscing this aspect of the player, one's mind goes to the Champions League final in 2019.

The pressure was on as Liverpool faced Tottenham in the biggest of tournaments, and the game got off to a wild start when the Reds were rewarded a penalty kick right in the first minutes. Salah kept himself composed, put us into the lead, and that 1-0 goal gave the whole match its dynamic as the Spurs were never able to come back from it and Origi eventually scored a second to seal Liverpool's sixth UCL championship.

7. Every time he annihilated Manchester United

Liverpool fans will be crying in the streets when Salah plays his final match for the team - but, if it's any consolation, there is a group of people who will be cheering and dancing as if a long-standing reign of terror is finally over...Manchester United fans.

Salah faced ManU eighteen times across his time as a Liverpool player, and scored a total of 16 goals against the team. The stats that highlight his legendary relationship to the Red Devils are mind-boggling: he became the first-ever visiting player to score a hattrick at Old Trafford, he's the eighth-highest goalscorer at Old Trafford in the 2020's including Manchester United players, and here's my personal favorite: since Salah joined Liverpool in 2017, he has been booked for taking his shirt off to celebrate a goal against ManU at Anfield more times than ManU have scored against Liverpool at Anfield. That's insane. And let's not forget his role in that 7-0 annihilation of 2023!

6. The "yeah, we're winning the league this year" goal

The year was 2020, Covid-19 hadn't shut the world down yet, and after years of barely lost title races between an ever-improving Klopp-era Liverpool and Guardiola's Manchester City, it was finally starting to look like it was our year. During most league seasons, it's hard to pinpoint the exact moment when it really starts to become evident who the eventual winner will be - but with that exhilarating 19/20 season, it was pretty clear. Things had looked pretty good already before that January fixture against Manchester United, but this was the match that made it crystal clear that there was no stopping Liverpool that year.

Van Dijk put the Reds 1-0 up early in the game, but things remained fairly even - until one of the most memorable goals of the Klopp era was scored. In a rare case of the goalkeeper getting an assist, Alisson Becker's pitch-perfect long open found its way to Salah's feet, and he dribbled past the ManU defense with grace and elegance to make it 2-0. The skill that went into the goal felt like an ultimate "wait - we're really winning the league this season?!" realization, and watching the celebrations as Alisson ran across the pitch to celebrate the goal with his partner-in-crime truly felt like the beginning of a much larger celebration.

5. "Never give up"

I often find myself thinking about this one. Imagine the guts, drive and sheer faith that it takes to pull a stunt like this - you play FC Barcelona, in a time when they still have Messi and Neymar and everyone, in the semi-final of the Champions League, and you lose the first leg 3-0 - and then you, the biggest star of the team, get injured and have to miss the hopeless-looking second leg.

Then you arrive in the stands to watch the game, wearing a shirt that says "NEVER GIVE UP".

Commentators saw this either as cheeky and delusional, or as a pointless gesture of as-if hope in a hopeless situation. Little did they know who would have the last laugh - Salah didn't play a minute in what I consider my favorite football match of all time, but he definitely played a part in that historic comeback. I can only imagine how the visual of the injured star, cheering the players on while sporting that hauntingly beautiful text, helped pump the team up in order to do the impossible.

4. Gifting his POTM award to James Milner

This moment from the 18/19 season is one of those instances that immediately come to mind when thinking about what a stand-up guy Salah has always been. Salah had just scored three goals in a 4-0 victory against Bournemouth - a match that marked the 500th Premier League appearance of teammate James Milner. In the post-match interview, Milner's milestone is dealt with quite quickly, after which the focus shifts on Salah's performance as he's gifted the Player of the Match award - but he wasn't having any of it.

Ever the class act, Salah's immediate reaction is to refuse the POTM award and give it to Milner instead, to commemorate his incredible career. The moment felt extra special because Milner, as good as he was throughout his career, was the type of player who hardly ever gets chosen as POTM, being such an unselfish system player who never made a fuss about himself. You can see how emotional Milner got from Salah's gesture, and how much it meant to him.

3. The displays of absolute humility

Pretty much every fact I've learned about Mo Salah, and every clip I've seen of him in the media, has only made me respect him more and more - his wholesome interactions with the fans, his diplomatic role in on-the-pitch referee dramas, beginning each goal celebration by praising Allah with the humble Sujud prayer, the list goes on...

One very telling moment was yet another post-match interview with Sky Sports, this one being after he had scored his first hattrick for Liverpool. The interviewer kept setting him up to flex with well-deserved pride with praise-filled questions, but each time, Salah would keep deflecting and pivoting the attention to praising his teammates in a genuinely humble manner. Mind you, the guy had just scored a hattrick, and he had fuck-all to say about the matter except for "my teammates all played so well and created situations so brilliantly that they really deserve the praise". What a guy.

2. Breaking pretty much every single record

The most games scored in by an individual player during a Premier League season. The most consecutive winning appearances by a Premier League player. The first player to score on Opening Day of five consecutive Premier League seasons. The most Player of the Month awards by an individual player in a Premier League season. Overtaking Didier Drogba as the highest-scoring African player in Premier League history. The most goals scored in a Premier League season, a record that was previously held by one Cristiano Ronaldo. The first player to, as an individual player, outscore three entire teams during a Premier League season.

Oh, and he has scored the most Premier League goals, Champions League goals, Premier League assists, and Champions League assists in Liverpool history. No, not a combined number - he's #1 in each statistic.

We can't f**king replace this guy.

1. Generally breaking barriers, helping reduce Islamophobia and speaking out for important causes

Some things are bigger than football - and Mo Salah making the world a better place as a Liverpool player is one of them. Studies have shown that hate crimes against Muslims in the Merseyside area have reduced dramatically in the years after Salah was signed for Liverpool, and general attitudes towards Muslims have become much more positive among Liverpudlians. A stat like that always causes mixed feelings, because obviously it shouldn’t take something like this - in an ideal world, people would know not to be Islamophobic assholes even without a Muslim scoring goals for their football team. But, with the world being what it is, it is an objectively good thing that Salah’s positive presence in Liverpool FC has switched attitudes and probably saved lives.

Salah has also used his platform to speak out for many human rights causes, and this is critically important - as much as I love the sport, I have to admit that a large chunk of British football fans often appear to be some of the densest people on the planet, and their favorite player speaking out for something might just be only possible thing that makes them listen. Not to take anything away from Salah’s magical moments and irreplacable touch on the pitch, but the #1 thing that made me respect him was always his humble, genuine and kind personality - which also seems to go hand in hand with his playing style. The man gave us Liverpool fans nine amazing years, and changed many lives both with his football playing and with his charitable actions off the pitch. We will miss him dearly.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I rank top 10 pairs of movies that are the same movie.