Mohamed Salah praised Liverpool’s ‘don’t give up’ persistence and belief after his last-gasp penalty earned the Reds a dramatic 1-0 win at Burnley, extending their perfect start to the Premier League season.
The Egyptian forward delivered in the 95th minute at Turf Moor, converting coolly from the spot after Hannibal Mejbri conceded a penalty in stoppage time. It was a moment of composure in a tense and scrappy contest, ensuring Arne Slot’s side claimed their fourth successive league victory of the 2025/26 campaign.
Salah’s strike also carried personal significance. It was his 188th Premier League goal, moving him beyond Andy Cole (187) into outright fourth place on the competition’s all-time scoring list another milestone in his glittering Liverpool career.
For much of the afternoon, though, the match had looked destined to end in stalemate. Burnley frustrated Liverpool with an organised defensive shape and moments of resilience, even after being reduced to 10 men when midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu was sent off in the 84th minute. Turf Moor, often an unforgiving venue for visiting sides, appeared set to deny Slot’s team the breakthrough until Salah’s late intervention.
The result compounded Burnley’s recent misery, coming just weeks after they had suffered another late defeat courtesy of a stoppage-time penalty against Manchester United. For Scott Parker side, it was another cruel ending; for Liverpool, it was another example of their ability to win games at the death.
Slot’s team have now strung together four wins from four to open the season, a start that matches the fast beginnings made in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 campaigns under Jürgen Klopp. It also equals the longest winning streak they managed at any stage of last season, when inconsistency hampered their push for silverware.
Perhaps most telling is the manner of those victories. All four have come via late drama, reinforcing a culture of resilience that Salah believes is already deeply embedded in Slot’s side.
Speaking afterwards, the forward admitted it had been a difficult contest but underlined how Liverpool’s belief in themselves carried them through
“It’s a tough opponent today,” Salah told Sky Sports. “We tried our best to play the ball between the lines, but it’s tough to win. I’m glad that in the end we managed to win the game.”
He went on to stress the importance of adaptation, with several new players integrating into Slot’s system and finding their feet in the Premier League:
“The players are adapting to our system. We had a few new players in the starting line-up. It takes time to adapt their game to our game. We try to make them comfortable in a game. Alexander [Isak] also came last week and he’s going to be in the team. We try to find the balance.”
For Salah, that process of bedding in new arrivals does not detract from the squad’s determination. Instead, he argued, it makes Liverpool’s early-season resilience even more impressive:
“We don’t give up. We just try to push ourselves and our team to the limit.”
His words echoed what fans have witnessed across the opening weeks a team still fine-tuning its identity under a new head coach, yet already showing the ability to grind out results that championship-winning sides are built on.
But on an afternoon when patience and quality were required in equal measure, it was no surprise that Salah once again delivered the decisive moment.
The victory lifted Liverpool into familiar territory near the top of the table and provided another surge of confidence ahead of their Champions League return later this week. For Salah, though, the lesson from Turf Moor was clear: this is a team with the mentality to keep pushing, no matter how late in the game.
