Mark Goldbridge was made to eat his words by Mo Salah as the Egyptian scored a sublime goal in Liverpool’s 4-0 demolition of Galatasaray on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old has been enduring by far his least productive season in a red shirt, scoring just nine goals in 33 matches in this campaign prior to last night and being in ‘irreversible decline’, according to Steve Nicol.
However, the goal which took him into double digits for 2025/26 was a thing of beauty as he played a one-two with Dominik Szoboszlai before curling an unstoppable shot beyond Ugurcan Cakir.
During his live watchalong of Liverpool v Galatasaray on That’s Football, Goldbridge said of the Reds’ number 11: “He’s fallen off, and if you think me talking about Salah falling off is gonna make him climb back up…you know and I know he ain’t coming back.”
Moments later, the Egyptian scored to leave the YouTuber eating his words as he soberly acknowledged: “Salah’s back. What a goal. It was a good goal.”
Alas, Goldbridge quickly returning to banging his earlier drum by saying: “I still don’t think he’s back. I’m being told to hold it and all that, but I think Liverpool fans know one sunny day doesn’t make a summer and he ain’t back.
“Salah is still gonna score the odd good goal, and that was a very good goal, but I don’t think he’s back. If he can do that for the next few weeks, then maybe he is back, but where’s that been for seven months? I don’t think he’s back.”
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Timing is a key factor in comedy, and that Goldbridge was writing off Salah just before the Liverpool winger conjured his magical finish against Galatasaray will have Reds fans grinning from ear to ear.
Even the Egyptian’s most ardent backers would admit that he’s been way below his best this season and has been peripheral in too many games, but last night’s performance was much more like what we’re used to seeing from him.
Not even his penalty miss could detract from a vivacious display in which he forced two strong saves from Cakir and put in a brilliant cross for Hugo Ekitike to make it 2-0 early in the second half.
The sight of Salah being substituted with an apparent injury concern was worrying, and Arne Slot said afterwards that we’ll have to ‘see where he is for the weekend and afterwards’, but hopefully it isn’t anything to rule him out of action for long.
If it’s only a minor issue and the 33-year-old is fit for the remainder of the campaign, last night’s performance suggested that he could yet hit a prolonged run of form which’d make Goldbridge and his critics think twice before writing him off as damaged goods.
You can view Goldbridge’s comments on Salah below, via clubfutbol8 on TikTok:
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