Alisson says Mohamed Salah did something he 'doesn't like' to secure Liverpool win at Bournemouth
Alisson Becker praised Mohamed Salah for his role in Liverpool's huge Premier League victory at Bournemouth. The Egyptian scored twice, first from the penalty spot and then a sublime curling effort late on to wrap up the win as the Reds moved nine points clear at the top of the table.
But it was Salah's defensive efforts that earned the praise of his goalkeeper after Bournemouth were kept at bay at the Vitality Stadium.
Indeed, Liverpool kept their 10th clean sheet of the season after some superb Alisson stops to keep out a Cherries side that had scored nine goals in their previous two Premier League matches.
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And Alisson admitted it was the defensive work of his team-mates, such as Salah, that helped set the stage for victory.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "He knows how important he is for the team when he scores this kind of goal but we have to highlight all his hard work as well to defend today. It’s something that he doesn’t like to do much!
"But he did it for the team – not only him, everybody – and did it for this great result that we have here away from home against Bournemouth. They have a good team but we showed great desire, great mentality as well, and great quality to finish the situations we created.”
Alisson added: "I think they are really intense. If you look to the data they are one of the top teams for running, for intensity. The way they play, they are aggressive as well. Marking, they never let a player turn or receive the ball free so you have to be focused, really sharp in every situation when you have the ball: try to create, move a lot, so this intensity takes a lot of energy for you to win this kind of game.
“But to be honest, the Premier League is in a high standard this season, all the teams they are giving troubles to the top six in the league. All the games we play from now on, they show real desire, they want to take points from the bigger clubs, and we have to keep on going with this spirit.
"Game by game, step by step, thinking on the next challenge that we have and we are going to see where we finish the season.”
And asked about Alisson's heroics, Salah said: “Incredible, incredible. He knows how important he is for us. We have been together six or seven years here, I’ve been with him for two years in Rome as well.
"We know each other very well. He works very hard, also the defensive line works very hard so I am happy for them.”