Wayne Rooney hails Chelsea star for frustrating Liverpool hero Mohamed Salah

Wayne Rooney singled out one Chelsea defender for praise after Mohamed Salah was kept quiet in the Blues’ victory over Liverpool.

Liverpool were beaten 3-1 by Enzo Maresca’s side in their first game since being crowned Premier League champions.

The Reds looked understandably off the pace a week on from celebrating a 20th English league title and it took Chelsea just three minutes to take the lead, Enzo Fernandez slotting home following a superb move involving Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto.

Chelsea doubled their lead with 20 minutes remaining when an attempted clearance from Virgil van Dijk hit Jarell Quansah and rebounded into his own net.

Van Dijk did get a goal back for the champions, rising well to head home from a corner, but Cole Palmer’s injury-time penalty sealed a huge win for Chelsea’s Champions League hopes.

Salah endured a surprisingly subdued afternoon at Stamford Bridge and Rooney felt that was down to a ‘really impressive’ performance from Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella.

Anfield hero Salah, who previously played for Chelsea, has enjoyed one of his best ever seasons – scoring 33 goals and making 23 assists in all competitions – but struggled to make an impact against his former club.

‘I was really impressed with Marc Cucurella,’ ex-Manchester United and England striker Rooney said on BBC’s Match of the Day 2.

‘I really liked how aggressive he was against Mohamed Salah. He was right in Salah’s face all afternoon, he didn’t give him any time on the ball. 

‘Salah can obviously hurt players if he faces you up but Cucurella didn’t let that happen. He kept winning the ball and driving forward, he didn’t really give Salah any joy. 

‘I think he won the ball back nine times which was more than any other player on the pitch. He was just really aggressive and I think you need to be against Salah because he will cause you massive problems if you give him time. 

‘Mo Salah can make you look silly but Cucurella didn’t fear him at all. I was really impressed with him.’ 

Eyebrows were raised when Chelsea spent over £60m to sign Cucurella from Brighton in 2022 but the Euro 2024 winner has developed into a key player for the west London side.

The win saw Chelsea move level on points with fourth-placed Newcastle United with three games remaining.

Qualifying for the Champions League is a huge target for Maresca’s side but Chelsea are not ready for Europe’s top competition, according to Nigel Reo-Coker.

‘You would have to say they are still in it but there are still a lot more questions about this Chelsea team,’ the ex-Premier League midfielder told BBC Radio 5 Live.

‘Just on the game against Liverpool, they took 45 minutes to get going and then they missed some real good chances.

‘Whether it is the Premier League celebration hangover. Chelsea were let off the hook in this game. It’s going to come down to Newcastle v Chelsea next [weekend] when they play each other.

‘Whoever wins that will be the one who makes it [into the Champions League positions]. I would put my money more so on Newcastle.

‘From their performances and from the way they look. They have won the League Cup this year and they have got tunnel vision.

‘With Chelsea, there are still quite a few questions. I don’t think they are strong enough defensively.’

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