Liverpool manager Arne Slott was impressed by the "almost perfect" performance of his players in a 4-1 win over Ipswich today, which maintained their six-point lead at the top of the English Premier League, BTA reported.
Kody Gakpo scored twice for the victory after Dominik Szoboszla and Mohamed Salah gave the team the lead in the early minutes. It was also Salah's 100th goal in the Premier League and it was scored in front of a new record attendance for a championship match – 60,420 spectators.
The hosts had a 3-0 lead at half-time and if they hadn't eased up the pressure, they probably would have scored more goals against the visitors from Ipswich. The only mistake they made was Jacob Greaves' goal, which came at the very end.
"We have played well a few times as home team but we have conceded a goal in our own goal early on. Today was the performance I want to see - the way I want a match to start," Slott began. "We were aggressive, we dominated for 85 minutes and it was difficult for the opponents to leave their own half. We were almost perfect in terms of executing the tasks set. I knew they had strength on the wings on the counter-attack and we had to be careful. I think we managed that too".
"At the end of the match we conceded a goal after a cross from a corner kick, which was the first such goal for our opponents since the start of the season. That's what disappointed me. But for 85 minutes it was almost a perfect performance against a team that plays low blocks", the Dutch coach of the Premier League leaders also explained.
Salah scored his 19th goal of the season, he already has 100 in the Premier League, as well as 176 on English pitches. But the thing that really pleased the coach was his participation in defense.
"Most often, when I talk about Mo Salah, we talk about his contract and his goals. But now we will talk about his defense. I think that stood out. But if you look at every situation when we lost the ball, I saw a reaction from all the players. The hardest thing when you defend is to control the opponent's counterattack. That's why I'm happy with the way Mo Salah and the rest of the team reacted," concluded a satisfied Arne Slott. His team leads the standings with 53 points, 6 more than Arsenal and 9 ahead of 3rd-placed Nottingham Forest.