Jürgen Klopp believes that Mohamed Salah’s wonderful solo goal in the draw with Manchester City was a fitting tribute to his club’s legendary striker Roger Hunt, who died last week.

And, in a nod to Hunt’s goal in Liverpool’s 1965 FA Cup final victory, Klopp believes that Salah’s effort on Sunday will also be remembered by supporters for more than half a century. It was a fitting way to end a game in which Liverpool twice threw away the lead, a result with which Klopp had no complaints due to his team’s appalling first-half showing.

But a much improved effort after the restart was, in large part, the result of a sensational display by Salah and goals from Sadio Mané and the Egyptian himself.

“The first goal was a great counterattack,” Klopp said. “‘Bang, bang’ passes, and the second goal only the best players in the world score goals like this. Absolutely exceptional.

“This club never forgets anything and people will talk about this goal for a long, long time, and in 56 years when they still remember this game.”

In the 59th minute, the Egyptian international created the first goal for Mané thanks to an error from City goalkeeper Ederson. The Brazilian, whose passing is usually so accurate, was guilty of needlessly playing the ball straight out and Liverpool built up from the back.

Salah, ever on the prowl, nipped in front of Bernardo Silva to reach Joel Matip’s risky pass and the momentum intensified with James Milner feeding Fabinho and the Brazilian finding Salah. The Egyptian was off and running, skipping away from João Cancelo, and his pass was measured to perfection for Mané, who ran away from Rúben Dias and finished with aplomb.

But his best was yet to come. Seven minutes after Phil Foden had equalised for City in the 69th minute, the majestic Salah took a pass from Curtis Jones outside the rival area, danced away from Cancelo and Foden and left Silva grounded. Aymeric Laporte came across to confront Salah, so he pretended to cut inside and chopped in the other direction, unleashing a right-footed shot from an acute angle that fizzed past Ederson in a blur.

Klopp suggested that Salah, who has six goals from his opening seven Premier League games, deserved greater credit for the quality of his strikes.

“If Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo score that goal then the world says yes because it’s world class. He is one of the best players in the world, that’s how it is,” he said.

Salah himself had little recollection of the detail of the goal. “I have to watch it to see. I do remember it. It would be more special if it won the game but it is what it is. It’s the result. I think it’s a good goal, nothing much to say,” he said after the match.

Salah has attributes that put him ahead of other forwards.

Pace is the most obvious but then there is his close control, honed through starting as a winger: it gives him an ability to kill the ball in the box and manipulate it into space, which helps him to get away shots — and often early ones. Then there is his positioning. The instinct is to show him, as a right winger, away from his right side — but Salah is left-footed and even giving him an inch on the inside can lead to damage. So many Salah goals are curled precisely into a small area inside the far post after he makes a quick shift on to his left.

But the biggest weapon Salah has is his prowess at running in behind, a seemingly simple yet tactically complex act. To run behind a defence while staying onside and arriving in space, one needs high footballing intellect and the ability to make instant calculations. One must consider which teammate has the ball, where they are on the field, when they lifted their head to scan the play, what shape of delivery they usually provide, and then know what the opposition’s defensive line is doing. Only that way can one time a run and end up in the right place for the pass. Salah does it to perfection.

Written with inputs from Reuters and agencies