Mo and Shaq chop down Fulham

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Mohamed Salah capitalised on some quick thinking by Liverpool to maintain his impressive scoring record at Anfield in a 2-0 win over last-place Fulham in the Premier League yesterday.

Straight after Fulham had a goal disallowed for offside, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson took a quick free kick to find right back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who played in Salah to race in on goal and open the scoring in the 41st minute.

There were just 14 seconds between the flag being raised for offside and Salah finding the net at the other end of the field.

Xherdan Shaqiri scored the other goal in the 53rd minute, a cushioned volley into the corner from Andrew Robertson’s deep cross, as unbeaten Liverpool won for the ninth time in its opening 12 games.

In six league games at home, Salah has scored in five of them — the only blank coming against title rival Manchester City. The Egypt forward has 34 goals in 36 appearances at Anfield since joining Liverpool in the offseason of 2017.

It was a seventh straight loss for Fulham in all competitions, keeping the pressure on manager Slavisa Jokanovic heading into the two-week international break. The London team’s only win since returning to the Premier League was in late August and it hasn’t scored a goal in its last three league losses.

While Salah could yet match his prolific scoring from last season, when he finished as the league’s top scorer with 32 goals, two more factors are making Liverpool a more irresistible force as the team looks to become English champion for a 19th time — and first since 1990.

Elsehwere, Chelsea missed a chance to keep pace with their title rivals as Everton held on for a 0-0 draw thanks to Jordan Pickford’s heroics.

Maurizio Sarri’s side laid siege to the Everton goal in the second half, but found Pickford unbeatable as the England keeper made a series of fine saves.

The stalemate at Stamford Bridge left Chelsea two points behind Liverpool, who beat Fulham earlier on Sunday, with Manchester City having a chance to pull clear of the Blues against Manchester United later in the day. It was a frustrating afternoon for Chelsea, who extended their unbeaten start under Sarri to 18 games in all competitions but couldn’t make their territorial dominance count.