Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was impressed with an “almost perfect” performance in the 4-1 over Ipswich which maintained their six-point lead at the top.
Cody Gakpo scored twice after Dominik Szoboszlai and Salah, with his 100th Premier League goal for the club at Anfield, scored in front of a new record league attendance of 60,420.
They were 3-0 up at half-time and coasting and had they not eased off they would have scored more, with the only blip being Jacob Greaves’ late consolation.
“It’s been a few times we have played a home game and conceded a goal at the start. Today is the way you want to start a game,” he said.
Liverpool 4-1 Ipswich
“We were aggressive, dominant for 85 minutes, they had hardly been in our half.
“It is a counter-attacking threat with the wingers they have but we managed to control that so because of the amount of work we put in.
“At the end, we are all disappointed conceding from a corner, the first one this season, but for 85 minutes it was almost a perfect performance against a team that plays a low block.
“That’s not always easy but the way we did it was really good.”
Salah reached yet another of his many landmarks with his 19th league goal of the season but it was off the ball which pleased Slot, with the Egypt international racing back over the halfway line in the second half to snuff out an attack.
“Mostly about Mo it’s his contract or his goals and now it’s his defensive work rate. I think that stood out,” added the Reds boss.
“But if you look at almost all the times we have lost the ball, I saw a reaction off many players.
“It’s so difficult to control a counter-attack and the only way to do so is what Mo did in this moment and other players in different moments. That’s why I was pleased with the performance today.”
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was pleased with the way his team responded to being 3-0 down at the interval.
“A difficult game. A difficult position to be in at half-time and also a frustrating position,” he said.
“We started the game well but then from little we found ourselves a goal down and then a few goals down.
“We take a lot of positives from the second half. We managed the game pretty well and finished the game strong. We made some mistakes but if we take the lessons in the right way we can be stronger.”
McKenna is hoping a knee injury to Wes Burns is not as serious as it looked when he was carried off in the first half.
“We have our fingers crossed but the knee looks swollen. We hope it is not as bad but it looks serious,” he added.
