Mohamed Salah’s seemingly superstitious act vs Newcastle helped him score penalty after previous miss

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah was spotted doing a superstitious act which helped him score his late penalty against Newcastle.

New Year's Day saw Liverpool kick off 2024 with a 4-2 victory over Newcastle to move three points clear at the Premier League summit.

Liverpool dominated proceedings, registering 34 shots and an expected goals of 7.27 - the highest ever recorded since Opta started recording the data in 2010.

Salah, who missed a first-half penalty, soon amended his error by netting the Reds’ opener, only for it to be cancelled out for Alexander Isak.

Then, a double from Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo put Liverpool in control once more before Sven Botman nodded home against the run of play to set up a nervy ending to the encounter.

However, Salah ultimately sealed the victory, scoring from his second spot-kick of the game after Diogo Jota won a controversial late penalty for Liverpool.

And fans on social media noticed that the Egyptian changed his boots at halftime after his first-half penalty miss.

When asked about why he swapped footwear for the second half Salah told Sky Sports: "The ones I missed a penalty with, I just trained with them yesterday.

“It's not superstition but I wanted to change them. I just changed them and it made my mind calm."

Salah added: "It's a great result for us. The game was very intense and we managed to pick up three points and now we are top of the table. We need to stay calm and win every game.

"The players spoke in the dressing room. We have to stay calm. I missed the pen. I didn't want to leave with the national team with that performance."

Salah now turns his attention to the Africa Cup of Nations, where he will be hoping to lead Egypt to continental glory.

On the tournament, he said: "I want to win. We have some really good players. We have players who can play in my position. It means a lot to play for the national team. It's something I cannot take for granted. I would love to win it."

Topics: Football, Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Premier League

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.