Mohamed Salah was in action for Egypt on Sunday as the Pharaohs took on Sierra Leone at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Liberia in the second game of Group A of the African World Cup qualifiers.
The visitors completed a comfortable 2-0 victory with a brace from Trabzonspor forward Trezeguet to make it two wins out of two in the group, following their 6-0 drubbing of Djibouti.
Although Salah couldn’t get himself on the scoresheet, he proved to be a handful for the Sierra Leonean defence as he assisted Trezeguet’s second goal of the game.
In the closing stages of the game, though, a few pitch invaders – likely to be those supporting Sierra Leone – got on to the pitch and tried to attack Salah.
🚨🎥| Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah almost gets attacked by opposition fans who ran into the pitch during the match, Sierra Leone vs Egypt. 😦
— TTS. (@TransferSector) November 19, 2023
pic.twitter.com/9xGOOCDinN
One of the invaders who tried to attack Mo Salah sported a Man City kit
X (formerly Twitter) went into a frenzy with memes on Manchester City after one of the pitch invaders was seen donning a Man City home kit.
Salah’s first game for Liverpool following the conclusion of the international break is against Premier League leaders Man City on Saturday, November 25.
Knew Pep was behind this https://t.co/G0AB4LosUJ pic.twitter.com/kB8zAwqCrs
— Karen (@Karen31_x) November 19, 2023
To put the above tweet/meme into the context, the tweeter is trying to say that Man City boss Pep Guardiola is the mastermind behind the pitch invasion conspiracy aimed at Salah.
Salah is, by far, the most dangerous player at Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp’s disposal. In the Premier League, the 31-year-old Egyptian has already scored 10 goals and has four more assists to his name in 12 games.
Liverpool, with eight wins, three draws, and a solitary loss, find themselves in second position on the Premier League table with 27 points, just one behind their biggest rivals in modern times and their opponent in the next league outing, Man City.
Not having Salah for the Man City game obviously would be a huge, huge blow for Klopp and Co.
The Liverpool right winger has an incredible record against the Sky Blues, scoring 11 goals and registering five assists in 19 appearances across all competitions. Of those 19 appearances, all but one have come in a Liverpool outfit. Salah played one game against City in the 2013-14 season for Chelsea.
In the 2022-23 season, the Reds played Man City four times, with Salah getting on the scoresheet in each of those four games. He will once again be the man City’s defence would want to keep quiet in the top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.
What happened to Mo Salah following the pitch invasion?
Salah could be seen shielded by his Egyptian teammates when the invader tried to attack him. However, the security personnel at the ground were quick to act on it as they rushed onto the scene and nabbed the pitch invaders before they could inflict any damage on Salah.
He was escorted off the pitch by several security men who appeared to be wearing military/combat uniforms.
Look at the security that Salah has around him 🤯pic.twitter.com/sNZcYbWIGJ
— Anything Liverpool (@AnythingLFC_) November 19, 2023
Klopp would be pleased to see his most fearsome player return to England unscathed as the 2019-20 league champions travel to the Etihad Stadium this weekend.