Gary Neville took aim at Mohamed Salah on Monday night for stopping a potentially exciting moment for Diogo Jota on his Liverpool Premier League debut.
Jota replaced Sadio Mane after 80 minutes in the win over Arsenal at Anfield. The Portuguese made an immediate impact, scoring within eight minutes to seal the Reds’ 3-1 win.
However he could have opened his Liverpool account moments before he eventually did. Jota received the ball on the left side of the box in space, only for Salah to run past him and take the ball with him.
The Egyptian failed to keep hold of the ball though, leading Neville to highlight the forward’s greed on commentary.
“That is the selfish part of his game,” Neville said while describing the action for Sky Sports.
“He’s thought, ‘you’re not having a goal already’ and taken it off of him. It was Jota’s ball.
“His greed is one of his great strengths but he should have left it for his mate. He was never going to get there,” he added (via the Daily Mirror).
“He [Jota] would have had a goal if it wasn’t for Salah. You can’t do that. As great a player as he is, he knows that’s not a great look.”
Arsenal took an unlikely lead midway through the first half through Alexandre Lacazette. The Frenchman pounced to finish after Andy Robertson’s failed clearance.
Robertson made amends though, putting Jurgen Klopp‘s side in front after Mane’s equaliser.
Jota then grabbed his debut goal to make it nine points from nine for his side at the start of the new season.
Jota hopeful of more game time
Speaking after the match, Jota insisted that he would work hard in an attempt to dislodge Liverpool’s famed front three.
The 23-year-old’s arrival offers the Reds a fantastic option off the bench, as proved against Arsenal.
However Jota claimed he is hopeful of a more significant role in proceedings.
The post Neville slams Salah’s greediness in spoiling exciting Jota debut moment appeared first on teamtalk.com.
Jonny Whitfield
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