Let’s take a look at the Player Ratings from the Premier League match between Watford and Liverpool at Vicarage Road.
Claudio Ranieri had a debut to forget as Watford manager as Liverpool cruised to a comfortable 5-0 win.
Expectations for Ranieri’s debut were already low, but Watford’s performance at Vicarage Road was a far cry from the one that saw them famously end Liverpool’s 44-match unbeaten run with a 3-0 triumph in February 2020.
Instead, Liverpool stole a march on their opponents and never looked back. It was a clear one-sided affair right from the start, with a rampant Mohamed Salah leading the charge.
The Egypt international delivered another flawless and energetic display. He beautifully set up the first goal with a sublime curving pass that sailed past two Watford defenders for Sadio Mane. The Senegalese then cooly slotted the ball past Ben Foster to hand Liverpool the lead and net his 100th Premier League goal.
African players with 100+ Premier League goals:
🇸🇳 Sadio Manè
🇪🇬 Mo Salah
🇨🇮 Didier DrogbaWould be some front 3. 😍 pic.twitter.com/fVNv6KTWnW
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 16, 2021
Mane’s landmark strike made him only the third African player in Premier League history to do so after Salah and Chelsea’s Ivorian legend Didier Drogba.
Roberto Firmino doubled the Reds’ lead before the break with a simple tap-in after James Milner squared the ball inside the box.
The Brazilian added a second after half-time after a muck up in the Watford defense. Craig Cathcart turned Andy Robertson’s delivery towards his own goal, which Foster failed to clear – allowing Firmino to smack a loose ball into the back of the net.
Mo Salah’s game by numbers vs. Watford:
84% pass accuracy
64 total touches
5 shots [3 on target]
4 attempted dribbles
3 successful dribbles
2 chances created
1 assist
1 goalMajestic. 🇪🇬 pic.twitter.com/kVPFkfvbb5
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 16, 2021
Then, barely three minutes afterward, Salah hit the target with an almost carbon copy of his goal against Manchester City. He easily beat the defenders, shrugging off about a couple of challenges before curling the ball into the far corner to complete a sublime goal.
Firmino later completed his hat-trick during injury-time by tapping in a delivery from substitute Neco Williams to complete a resounding victory.
Player ratings
Watford: Foster (5); Femenia (5), Cathcart (5), Troost-Ekong (5), Rose (3); Bonaventure (6), Kucka (6), Sissoko (7), Masina (5); Sarr (7), Hernandez (6).
Bench: Ngakia (6), Cleverly (6), Pedro (6).
Liverpool: Kelleher (7); Alexander-Arnold (7), Matip (8), Van Dijk (7), Robertson (7); Milner (8), Henderson (7), Keita (7); Salah (9), Firmino (10), Mane (8).
Bench: Oxlade-Chamberlain (6), Tsimikas (6), Neco Williams (7)
Feel free to make your pick on each player’s ratings and performances using the widget below.
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