Liverpool solidified their surge towards the 2024/25 Premier League title race with an emphatic 2-0 win over Manchester City at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s side dominated the defending champions, producing a real tour de force to move 11 points clear of Pep Guardiola’s side at the top of the table.
It was also the day where Mohamed Salah weaved his magic to steal the show. Salah, who self-admittedly claimed that this might potentially be his final game against Manchester City at Anfield as his contract expires next year, turned out on the style to torment the Cityzens’ backline.
He worked his magic to produce a brilliant assist to set up Cody Gakpo’s opening goal in the first half.
The celebrations for the goal, of course, were animated as the Liverpool players were keen on taking an advantage of their rivals. But the Gakpo goal celebrations also ended up bearing fruit to a fascinating, bewildering photograph.
The Dutch forward was initially greeted by his fellow Dutchman Ryan Gravenberch, who gave him an emotional embrace as the Anfield crowd celebrated the goal in a wild manner.
A supporter from the stands also managed to get a snap of the Liverpool players having a good time sharing their joy after the nice goal.
The picture from the fan has started to go viral on social media because of how strange it looks like.
While everything about the snap is totally fine, it’s the bit where Dominik Szoboszlai is standing that creates for some confusion. This viral snap shows the Hungarian midfielder almost ‘merging’ into Salah, who also wanted to link-up with Gakpo after setting up his goal.
It’s quite the strange optical illusion that makes it seem that Szoboszlai and Salah share the same body, but with two faces. The illusion provides the effect that the back of the head and the hair is that of the Hungarian midfielder, but Salah’s face – especially his nose and mouth region – complete this merging of two bodies.
This mystical picture has resulted in many people calling it fake or photoshopped, with allegations that Salah’s face was just edited into that area to produce this illusion affect. But upon watching things a little bit closely, it can be identified that this is actually a real picture and not just a smart edit.
To realize that, have a look at the number of feet that can be visible around the area where all of the Liverpool players are standing. Gakpo’s legs are slightly hunched back as he is embraced by Gravenberch, whose left foot (wearing red boots) is near Cody’s body and the other one stretched backward.
Szoboszlai’s two feet are easily identifiable because of his green boots. But upon having a look between the Hungarian midfielder’s legs, Salah’s two legs can be seen donning bright red boots. The Egyptian winger’s body was basically blocked off by Szoboszlai’s figure, causing this smart illusion.
More than anything else, this is just a very smart and fortunate capture from the photographer, who managed to capture it at the perfect time to create this strange affect. Salah would be motivated from playing a role in Gakpo’s goal, as he scored Liverpool’s second later in the game to help his side get a compelling win.
