The best way for Mohamed Salah to shake off the pressure he has been under for the past few weeks in terms of his football was to score a hat-trick as a substitute in the last Champions League matchday, which not only gave the Egyptian a boost of confidence ahead of the clash with Manchester City, but also served as extra motivation on a personal level by breaking a Premier League record for a player in the European Cup.
Salah's contribution to three of Liverpool's seven goals at Ibrox Stadium on Wednesday night saw him claim the record for the most Champions League goals scored by an English club, surpassing the likes of English legends Didier Drogba and Sergio Aguero, but even with that mark to his name, the Egypt international has fallen behind two former Reds players in terms of scoring a hat-trick.
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Having achieved that mark as a Premier League player, Salah unwittingly also collaterally broke another record, claiming the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history with a time of six minutes and twelve seconds, surpassing what was done in 2011 by Bafetimbi Gomis who also achieved his hat-trick in eight minutes playing for Lyon, but even with the Egyptian being the benchmark in these categories, this or he could break a third that directly involves a former Liverpool player.
Although the "Pharaoh" was able to become only the third player in Liverpool's history to score three goals as a substitute, equalling Steve Staunton and Steven Gerrard, Salah cannot boast of having done it in the shortest possible time, as ahead of him is the name of Robbie Fowler, a player who was able to score three goals in just four minutes and 33 seconds against Arsenal in August 1994, a time later surpassed by Sadio Mané playing for Southampton.
Robbie's record looks difficult to break even for players like Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino, as even Sadio Mané when he was part of the Reds could not beat the former England striker's time, even though the Senegalese has the best record in the Premier League with those two minutes and 56 seconds. For now Salah must be satisfied and happy to have put his name in the books of both the English league and the Champions League, serving as an incentive for him to rediscover his best footballing form.
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