Tonight saw Liverpool achieve a 3-2 UEFA Champions League group stage win over Paris Saint-Germain, in what was once again a magical night for European football at Anfield. It all ended in very exciting fashion, with a final sequence that inspired debate on social media.
Reds forward Roberto Firmino came back from injury and off the bench to score a game winning goal in injury time, with an eye-catching (pun intended) celebration. When the cameras panned to the Liverpool bench reacting to Firmino’s goal, the response from winger Mo Salah got people talking on social media.
If you only saw this clip, from this angle, then you might think Mo Salah got really upset when he saw the game winning scoring strike transpire:
https://twitter.com/SimplyUtd/status/1042157722131681280
This led to Twitter users quickly jumping to conclusions about the Egyptian’s reaction- slamming the water bottle down to the ground. What came next was social media users inferring the motivation and emotion (incorrectly) going on inside Salah at the time.
Take a look at the longer clip, which presents the whole picture, and it tells a very different story. You can see last year’s Player of the Year and goal scoring record breaker throw his arms up:
Clear video after Firmino goal showing Mo Salah reactions#MoSalah#Liverpool pic.twitter.com/ShHj7rfMXS
— Ahmed Abdelhakem (@AhmedAbdel7akem) September 18, 2018
Salah does celebrate, and then he slams down the water bottle as an expression of relief. He was relieved that he was now off the hook for the errors he made which almost cost his side two points in the Euro competition.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud and YouTube. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to any and all of his.