Merseyside | Late Salah penalty seals dramatic win for Liverpool

Burnley 0 - 1 Liverpool

Liverpool once again left it late as Mohamed Salah’s stoppage-time penalty preserved their perfect start to the Premier League season and denied Burnley a hard-earned point.

Author | William G

Stadium | Turf Moor

The hosts had looked on course to frustrate the champions until substitute Hannibal handled Jeremie Frimpong’s cross deep into added time, giving Salah the chance to lash home in front of the jubilant away end.

The Egyptian’s winner arrived just as Burnley seemed set to become the first side to take points off Arne Slot’s side this campaign. The Liverpool manager opted to leave £125m record signing Alexander Isak out of the squad as the striker builds fitness, but his team instead found themselves battling against a wall of claret resistance.

Burnley rarely threatened Alisson’s goal yet defended with grit, Dubravka saving well from Dominik Szoboszlai and substitute Federico Chiesa heading wide moments after coming on. Their hopes of survival in the closing stages were further damaged when Lesley Ugochukwu was dismissed for a second booking following a foul on Florian Wirtz.

Liverpool, however, refused to settle. Their relentless pursuit paid off, continuing a theme of decisive late strikes after previous dramatic winners at Newcastle and now Turf Moor. For Burnley, it was another bitter blow, having also succumbed to a stoppage-time penalty against Manchester United earlier in the season.

Liverpool making a habit of late winners

Liverpool’s impressive start to the Premier League has been defined by late drama, and Turf Moor provided another example as Burnley were denied a famous result with seconds remaining.

The champions struck in the 88th minute and then in stoppage time to edge past Bournemouth on the opening day, before teenager Rio Ngumoha delivered a 100th-minute winner at Newcastle. Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick against Arsenal came seven minutes from the end, and Mohamed Salah applied the finishing touch against Burnley.

While Liverpool have not always hit their fluent best, four consecutive victories underline both the resilience and the quality within Arne Slot’s side.

The Burnley perspective | Reaction from the home stands

After the match, we spoke to a number of Burnley fans who were positive about the performance despite another late defeat. Here's what they had to say. 

Tony: Scott Parker deserves immense credit for the way he organised Burnley, and the players executed his instructions superbly. We were entitled to a point but, that is football, and sometimes it can be so cruel. I remain hopeful we have enough to stay in the league.

James: We battled hard and deserved a point. It is now two games in a row where we have shot ourselves in the foot. Our survival will not be decided by this game but by the performances of the teams around us. That is when we need to be taking the late winners.

Moe: The players gave everything and earned a point through some excellent defending. But, once again, football has been cruel as Burnley conceded an unnecessary penalty in injury time for the second game running.