Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah joined an exclusive troupe of players thanks to his pair of assists in the Reds' 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
Jurgen Klopp and Gary O'Neil butted heads in the dugout in the Premier League's first game back following the international break, and the former made three changes for the lunchtime kickoff.
Alongside handing Jarell Quansah his first Premier League start, Klopp brought in Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo to link up with Salah in attack, as Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz made the bench following their returns from South America.
Liverpool entered the international hiatus having gone unbeaten in their opening four games, but that record was on the line when Hwang Hee-chan slotted home from Pedro Neto's pass after just seven minutes.
Joe Gomez was being run ragged by Neto on the right-hand side, but several chances came and went for Wolves to double their advantage, and Liverpool capitalised after the break.
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Just before being taken off, a hitherto quiet Cody Gakpo poked home from close range after being set up by Salah, who then slipped Andy Robertson through for his first Premier League goal since May 2022.
The Egyptian winger would ostensibly take his assists tally to three in the dying embers as he teed up Harvey Elliott to fire home, but the Englishman's shot was going wide before taking a nick off Hugo Bueno, who was therefore credited with the own goal.
Nevertheless, Salah's first contribution for Gakpo saw the 31-year-old become only the fourth player to register an assist in five successive away Premier League games, and the first since former Everton man Gerard Deulofeu in December 2015.
Earlier that year, Cesc Fabregas achieved the feat for Chelsea in January, while the first player with assists in five successive road matches was Muzzy Izzet, who did so for Leicester City in December 2003.
In addition, the former Chelsea man brought up 200 Premier League goal involvements for Liverpool in the lunchtime kickoff, taking a mere 223 games to achieve that milestone.
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Only Thierry Henry has directly contributed to 200 goals in a shorter time for a Premier League club, doing so in 206 matches during his illustrious stint at Arsenal.
Salah's game-changing performance was his first game for Liverpool since the closure of the Saudi Arabia transfer window, with Al-Ittihad ultimately failing to prise him away from Anfield.
Klopp admitted that Salah was not at the races in the first half alongside the rest of his players, but he lauded the attacker's "unbelievable" qualities after their successful comeback job.
"He is unbelievable, he is involved in everything. First half wasn't great, obviously, but then – again – a different system and he is a key-moment player, definitely. He is always there when we need him. Like everybody, really stepped up in the second half. Really good," Klopp said after the game.
Liverpool now have four days to recuperate before opening their Europa League campaign versus LASK Linz, which precedes a Premier League meeting with West Ham United on September 24.
Ben Knapton
