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Gary Neville says £13m Liverpool player did something ‘exceptional’ at the weekend
Liverpool forward Xherdan Shaqiri has been praised by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville for his “exceptional” delivery to Mohamed Salah for the Reds’ second goal at West Ham.
Jurgen Klopp’s charges ran out 3-1 winners at the London Stadium, with Salah scoring a second-half brace and Georginio Wijnaldum netting late on, before Craig Dawson grabbed a consolation.
Liverpool were unable to break the deadlock in the first half, but were much improved after the interval as they picked the Hammers defence apart.
Substitute Curtis Jones played a big part in the opener, surging down the middle and exchanging passes with Trent Alexander-Arnold before finding Salah, who made space for himself and slotted home.
The second was a counter-attacking masterclass, beginning with Andrew Robertson heading clear from West Ham’s corner and finding Alexander-Arnold, who bore forward and found Shaqiri with a superb diagonal.
The man ran onto the loose ball before unleashing a pinpoint pass into the box, which Salah deftly controlled and swiftly slotted past Lukasz Fabianski.
Neville, speaking about that goal on , said: “It was so special.
“In fact, I’m more thinking don’t let him back on his left foot. How many times have I seen that as a full-back with these players that cut in from the opposite side?
“But the second goal is so, so good. It’s exceptional, it’s breath-taking.
“The best goals I ever think of, while I was at Man Utd, are the counter-attack goals where they are just devastating. The best teams really do have it, that precision.
“And to attack at pace with precision is the most difficult thing. The pass, first time, from Xherdan Shaqiri is exceptional. And then the touch, the first touch, is out of this world.”
Liverpool’s third was impressive too, a backheeled one-two with Roberto Firmino which enabled the Brazilian to square for Wijnaldum to fire home.
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It was great to see Shaqiri, a player who has struggled for game time for much of his time at Liverpool, deliver a moment of such brilliance in a rare start.
The Switzerland international has made just 12 appearances this season, and just three Premier League starts.
However, he has shown he has what it takes to cover for injuries, as he did against West Ham, which is great news for Liverpool and for Klopp.