Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has joined an exclusive club of Premier League scorers with his brace in Saturday's 2-0 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
The Reds have temporarily opened up a nine-point advantage at the summit of the top-flight table thanks to their beating of the Cherries, whose 11-game unbeaten Premier League run came to an end on the South Coast.
Salah firstly converted a clinical penalty after Lewis Cook was penalised for a foul on Cody Gakpo, taking him onto 20 goals for the Premier League season and level with Frank Lampard in the all-time charts.
Just as Andoni Iraola's side were threatening to extinguish Liverpool's lead, the 32-year-old repeated his trick with a quintessential curler, one that saw him become the outright sixth-highest Premier League scorer in history.
As well as surpassing Lampard in the historical record books, Salah became just the fifth Premier League player to score at least 20 goals in five separate campaigns in the competition.
Salah joins Alan Shearer, Sergio Aguero in elite club
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Arsenal icon Thierry Henry - also behind Salah in the Premier League charts - did so on five occasions too, while Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero managed at least 20 strikes in six different campaigns.
Meanwhile, all-time leading competition scorer Alan Shearer hit 20 or more goals in seven separate Premier League seasons, although one would not put it past Salah to match the Newcastle United in that regard should contract talks yield a positive solution.
As well as entering that elite party, Salah also achieved an unprecedented Premier League feat, becoming the first player aged 30 or older to register 20 goals and 10 assists in a single season.
The 32-year-old now has 21 strikes and 13 assists to his name from just 23 Premier League appearances in the 2024-25 campaign, meaning he remains on track for a Golden Boot and Playmaker Award double.
However, Salah acknowledged to Sky Sports News at full time that Liverpool would not have left the Vitality Stadium with all three points were it not for Alisson Becker, who made four vital saves to keep Bournemouth at bay when the Cherries began to probe.
Salah 'staying humble' as Alisson heroics lauded
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"The defence is incredible. Alisson knows how good he is for us. We've played six or seven years together and then one or two in Rome. He works very hard, I'm happy for him," the Egyptian said.
"It feels slightly different but last season we were the same, the season before we were very close. But we need to stay humble and take each game at a time and we don't have to think further. Think about each game.
"Scoring goals and keeping on winning, it's an incredible feeling. But the main target is to win the Premier League with the team. We are moving in the right direction so let's keep going. Now it's time to relax and enjoy."
Liverpool will spend Saturday evening nine points clear at the summit of the Premier League table on the same number of games as Arsenal, who can reduce the deficit to six points by beating Manchester City on Sunday.
Arne Slot's men now have four days to recover before hosting Tottenham Hotspur in Thursday's EFL Cup semi-final second leg, where they must overturn a 1-0 deficit to set up a final against either Newcastle United or Arsenal.
Ben Knapton
