London : A stunning hat-trick by substitute Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool come from behind to defeat Rangers 7-1 on Wednesday to put themselves on the brink of qualification for the Champions League knockout stages.
A much-changed Liverpool team failed to get going early on in Glasgow, and they fell behind when Scott Arfield scored to raise the roof off Ibrox after 17 minutes. The advantage only lasted less than eight minutes, though, as Roberto Firmino maintained his impressive season by tying the score with a near-post header in response to a corner.
Ten minutes after the break, Firmino converted Joe Gomez’s precise low cross to give Liverpool their first lead of the game. Liverpool was clearly the superior team in the second half.
Before Salah, who came off the bench to start the game, scored three goals in the final six minutes to turn a hard-fought victory into a rout, Rangers had been behind the game after a strong finish from close-season addition Darwin Nunez.
It only took 6 minutes and 12 seconds for Salah to come off the bench and score the fastest-ever hat trick in Champions League history. With the victory, Liverpool is now second in Group A and just needs one point to advance.
