After 12 minutes in the Etihad Stadium, and after a clear start of Manchester City, Mohamed Salah gathered a pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold and suddenly exploded away from Nathan Ake, drove into the box and put the hosts on the rear foot.
“It is the first time that we have seen a Liverpool player comfortably”, noticed watching Gary Neville on co-commentary for Sky Sports. It was a memory, if necessary, that Salah doesn't need much to play a game in favor of Liverpool.
Barely two minutes later he had scored their opener.
His goal, shot through a crowd of bodies after a well -processed corner routine, was his 241st in all Liverpool competitions, making him together with Gordon Hodgson in their score cards of all time, behind only Roger Hunt and Ian Rush. It is an incredible work. But he has never been so good.
Few players. In fact, with the assist for the second, scored by Dominik Szoboszlai, to add to his goal, Salah remains comfortable on course for the best season in the Premier League history.
It is only February and with 25 goals and 16 assists already, Salah's combined total of 41 places him behind only a handful of players for goal involvement in one season. He is on track to fully crush the record of 47, set by Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole during 42 game seasons.
Continue with the same pace and he will finish at 58.
“This will eventually be the best season we've ever seen from an individual, I have no doubt about that,” said Sky Sports Pundit Jamie Carragher afterwards.
“It's not just about whether he ends up above those players, it is that he may set the bar so high that in the future there can ever be there in the future. We see something special.”
With his full repertoire in the Etihad Stadium, Salah supplied on the largest stage and destroyed Manchester City for the second time this season. He is the first player in the Premier League history who scores and helps with both games against the ruling champions.
The figures are amazing. This season, Salah has now scored and helped in 11 Premier League matches, the most by every player in one of the top competitions in Europe since Lionel Messi for Barcelona in 2014/15. “He has a messi and ronaldo season,” Carragher added. “We're talking about Ballon d'Ors,” said Daniel Sturridge.
“There are good players there and then there is him,” Neville added, while Salah continued to destroy in the second half. You would not know to see him that he will be 33 in June.
His age is the core of the distance between club and player during his new contract, but this was only the last performance to show that Salah is working on the absolute peak of his powers.
“He has always been strong, but it feels like this season, the way he stops the ball from long steps and holding defenders on arm length is better than ever,” said Neville, while Salah made room for himself in the midst of a crowd of light – Blue-shirts and sent a Cross-Field Pass to Curtis Jones.
The same mix in force and calmness was clearly in the run -up to Liverpool's second goal when he easily killed Josko Gvardiol before he jinked in and fed Szoboszlai.
Manchester City couldn't handle it. Salah showed his usual ruthlessness with his goal and buried his first shot on goal, albeit with a deflection, but there was so much more about his performance.
He is brutally efficient but also capable of subtlety. In the first half he produced a brilliant disguised pass to release Trent Alexander-Arnold in the box. His willingness and the ability to switch between the roles of Scorer and Provider are among the many qualities that separate him from the rest.
He also performed his off-the-ball tasks. While Alexander-Arnold struggled to control Jeremy Doku in the first half, Salah followed to help, at one point to tackle Omar Marmoush and Doku in succession to shift an attack. He was even there again in the final phase, when the game looked safe.
Of course this victory in Liverpool was not just about Salah. Just like the Liverpool season, which now seems to be anything but it was in Premier League Glory, not just about Salah.
Under Arne Slot they continue to evolve and adapt to what is needed. The defeat against Nottingham Forest in September will remain their only one in the Premier League throughout the season.
They just keep picking points. In the Etihad Stadium, Neville described their display as a “classic road version”. Salah has caused the damage, but Liverpool generally only had 34 percent of the possession. The way they defended their box, calm and cool, was another key to the outcome.
They even found a new avenue to go goals for the opener of Salah. Before Sunday they ranked soil under Premier League parties for Set-piece goals this season with three. They found improvement of one of the few areas where needed.
“The best of this Liverpool performance for me is that we are conditioned for more than six or seven years that you need a philosophy, you have to play a way,” said Neville. “This team can adapt and do three or four different things in the same half.”
And of course they also know exactly how to get the best out of their best player. “He is in an absolute golden moment in his career where everything just feels so easy for him,” said Neville of Salah. “He is at a different level than something else at that pitch.”
A different level perhaps than every player in the Premier League history. The figures behind his amazing season have certainly placed him in that bracket. And with three months to go, there will be more.
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