Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah suffered an unwanted personal first during the Reds' 2-1 loss to Newcastle United in the final of the 2024-25 EFL Cup at Wembley.
The Egypt international made the trip to the capital boasting an exceptional record against the Magpies, having had a direct hand in 18 goals in his 16 previous appearances with them.
However, Salah was uncharacteristically ineffective on the Wembley soil, as were the vast majority of his teammates in a thoroughly deserved defeat to Eddie Howe's team.
Dan Burn vs. Alexis Mac Allister was a complete mismatch on corners, and the towering Newcastle centre-back easily out-muscled the Argentine to nod in a long-range header from a corner before the break.
Not long after rumoured Liverpool target Alexander Isak had a goal disallowed, the Sweden international found the bottom corner in front of the black and white contingent to double Howe's side's lead in the second period.
Salah suffers unwanted Liverpool first in EFL Cup loss
© Imago
An injury-time strike from Federico Chiesa was nothing more than a consolation for Liverpool, as Newcastle managed the game to a tee during the final few minutes before the celebrations began.
On the other hand, Salah and his teammates were left to lament a pitiful performance in the final, where the Egypt international did not manage a single shot or create a single chance at Wembley.
The 32-year-old had never previously failed to have a shot or make a key pass in a Liverpool game where he had played at least 90 minutes, and his anonymous display epitomised Liverpool's day.
Salah only had 23 touches of the ball over the course of 90 minutes, although he did manage to win both of his ground duels, completing one dribble and winning one free kick.
However, that proved trivial as Newcastle played Liverpool off the park to win their first major trophy in 70 years, as well as denying Liverpool another shot at glory just five days after Paris Saint-Germain knocked the Reds out of the Champions League.
Slot challenges Liverpool "outplayed" claim after Newcastle loss
© Imago
Nevertheless, Slot did not agree with the assessment that his team were "outplayed", telling reporters: "We were outplayed in their style, yeah, that's true. That is what you can call outplayed.
"Yeah, they won more duels than us. Is that what you mean? Is that outworking? Or is that one of their biggest qualities to play so much [with] aerial duels and to win these physique duels?
"Outplayed for me is if you don't touch the ball and they play through you every single time we tried to press them, every time you're too late. That is for me outplayed.
"But I agree with you if you say that they deserved to win because the game went in the way they wanted it to go. Yes, they deserved to win, but it wasn't like we were only running after them. We had to defend a lot of long balls [and] second balls and that's their strength."
The Reds boss also gave Sports Mole his thoughts on the upcoming international break, after which Liverpool's next fixture comes at home to none other than Everton in the Merseyside derby on April 2.
Ben Knapton
