Salah and Jota double up as Liverpool hit sorry Leeds hit for six

DROUGHT OVER: Liverpool's Diogo Jota scores his side's third goal at Elland Road. Pic: Tim Goode/PA Wire

LEEDS 1 LIVERPOOL 6 

Mo Salah and Diogo Jota helped themselves to two goals apiece, the highlights of a rare night to remember for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool in this most forgettable of seasons.

Just 12 months after they were in contention for an unprecedented quadruple, Liverpool’s season is limping to a lacklustre finish, especially given the disappointing manner they had responded to that brilliant 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United last month.

Since that record-breaking day, Liverpool had collected just two points from 12 available before their trip to Elland Road although, once Cody Gakpo broke the deadlock on Monday night, three more always looked likely, long before Darwin Nunez claimed the sixth on 90 minutes.

Two goals inside four first half minutes left Leeds facing another costly failure at Elland Road although, for the first in particular, the struggling hosts could feel an injustice had been served.

Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to use an extended elbow to charge down a bad touch from Leeds full-back Junior Firpo but was allowed to exchange passes with Salah and advance.

With Leeds presumably half waiting for the reprieve of a whistle, Alexander-Arnold had the space to advance before slipping over a perfectly-judged cross which Gakpo tapped into the open net.

It was a devastating blow for Leeds, all the more so when VAR looked at the incident and judged it had occurred too early in the move for any action to be taken - a dubious stance given that Alexander-Arnold himself was the man who delivered the assist.

It was also a sickening reminder of the last game at Elland Road when Leeds took a lead against Crystal Palace but folded spectacularly by conceding four times in 24 minutes, on the way to the first of their two successive embarrassing results.

By the time Liverpool went on to add a fourth just after the hour, Leeds had almost repeated that “trick,” letting in another quadruple, this time in 29 minutes. Certainly, when they gifted Liverpool a second on 39 minutes, there was already a strong sense of deja vu, especially with the goal again being a case of self-inflicted incompetence.

It followed midfielder Weston McKennie losing the ball to Jota 15 yards inside his own half, with the Portuguese immediately sprinting upfield, all the way deep into Leeds territory.

Jota timed his pass for Salah well and the Liverpool striker unleashed a deadly finish which offered no chance to keeper Illan Meslier, who had been required to do little before picking the ball out of his net twice in a matter of minutes.

For a Leeds team that has seen some of their relegation rivals starting to string some encouraging results together, it was the last thing they needed.

But it took just two minutes of the second half for Liverpool to gift Leeds a goal which was the result of even worse defending than had been the case with the opening two goals.

Ibrahima Konate was required to perform the most routine of tasks, with the ball at his feet, 25 yards from goal, following Salah’s backwards pass, only to lose the ball to Luis Sinisterra who comfortably beat Alisson with a confident finish.

Leeds had a foothold in the game but, true to form and most of their campaign, they did not take long to relinquish it, five minutes to be precise.

This time, Pascal Struijk was the defensive culprit, committing himself unnecessarily in a bid to win a challenge just inside the Leeds half.

As Curtis Jones broke upfield, there was a lack of a defensive backline, therefore, and the Liverpool midfielder played through an accurate pass for Jota who finished ably from 18 yards, his first goal for the Reds since scoring against Manchester City one year and one week ago, to the day.

After a turgid first half, the start of the goalscoring frenzy had led to a thoroughly unpredictable and watchable contest - if, mostly, due to the rank poor defending from both teams.

Liverpool were guilty of that, on 57 minutes, when Brenden Aaronson had the space to curl an unmarked shot just wide from 25 yards before Salah had the ball in the net two minutes later from a set-piece, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

And, on 63 minutes, Liverpool grabbed an inevitable fourth from a lethal counter-attack, launched by Andy Robertson down the left whose pass picked out Gakpo who, selflessly, moved the ball on for Salah to sweep in from eight yards.

The misery was not over for the home crowd who had to endure their team conceding five goals at home for the second time in a little over a week.

The home defence had long since given up for the evening by the time Jordan Henderson’s routine cross on 73 minutes picked out Jota who buried the ball from 18 yards.

Salah, now with nine goals against Leeds in just six appearances, was one of four Reds taken off by Klopp with nine minutes left - a four-man substitute rotation that saw striker Luis Diaz back in the action after six months out with a knee injury.

Another of them, Nunez, completed the rout with an alert 12-yard finish from Alexander-Arnold’s second assist of the evening.

Leeds (4-2-3-1): Mesiler 5; Kristensen 4, Koch 5, Struijk 4, Firpo 4; McKennie 4, Roca 4; Harrison 5 (Gnonto 77, 5), Aaronson 5 (Rutter 66, 5), Sinisterra 7 (Forshaw 77, 5); Rodrigo 5 (Summerville 66, 5). 

Substitutes (not used): Ayling, Cooper, Robles, Wober, Greenwood.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 7, Konate 5, van Dijk 6, Robertson 7; Henderson 7 (Milner 81), Fabinho 6 (Thiago 85), Jones 7; Salah 9 (Nunez 81), Gakpo 7 (Diaz 81), Jota 8 (Firmino 82). 

Substitutes (not used): Elliott, Tsimikas, Mattia, Kelleher.

Referee: C Pawson 5.