Mohamed Salah scores twice as Liverpool beat Roma 5-2

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Liverpool defeated Roma 5-2 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final match at Anfield Stadium in England on Tuesday.

Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah scored twice in the first-half after a commanding performance by the English side.

Liverpool picked up where they left off in the second-half with midfielder Sadio Mane scoring his side’s third goal before striker Roberto Firmino added two more.

Edin Dzeko scored an important away goal for Roma in the 81st minute before Diego Perotti converted a penalty four minutes later to give the Italian club some hope for the return leg.

Salah, who was recently awarded the Professional Footballers’ Association award, has been in sensational form this season, scoring 10 goals in 11 Champions League appearances for Liverpool.

The Egyptian international had spent two seasons at Roma before his transfer to Liverpool last summer. His current manager, Jurgen Klopp, told reporters before the match that Salah would “feel very early in the game that they are not his teammates anymore.”

He encouraged the forward to “strike back in a football way.” And did he ever.

Liverpool had come into the match having beaten Premier League rivals Manchester City 5-1 on aggregate in the previous round while Roma knocked out Spanish giants Barcelona in stunning fashion, coming back from a 4-1 aggregate deficit to beat them 4-4 on away goals.

The Italian club will have to rediscover that resilience which saw them defeat Barcelona if they plan on beating a Liverpool side who are in blistering form.

The second leg match will be played on May 2 at 9:45 p.m. Erbil time.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich will host defending champions Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena in Germany on Wednesday in the other semi-final first leg. Kick-off is at 9:45 p.m. Erbil time.