Mo Salah’s first-half miss proves crucial in Liverpool’s Europa League defeat by Atalanta as Peter Crouch insists ‘it’s not that difficult’ and proves the Egyptian is out of form

Mo Salah will roll over in bed tonight and repeat his crucial miss against Atalanta, believes Peter Crouch.

Liverpool’s star man squandered a golden opportunity in the first half of the second leg of the Europa League in Italy.

Salah found himself one-one with Juan Musso, who had stormed off his line, but he drilled the ball wide and the score remained 1-0.

He had already put them 1-0 up with a penalty, but if Liverpool had gone into halftime with a 2-0 lead, it would have made for a much more nervous second half. However, the Reds were unable to score again and lost 3–1 on aggregate, having lost 3–0 in the first leg last week.

‘The big one was Salah. For Salah on his left foot, bouncing like that, the ‘keeper has ended up in no man’s land. It’s an easy finish,” Crouch told TNT Sports.

Peter Crouch believes Salah would have converted the chance had he been in better form

Crouch, who used to play for Liverpool, believes Salah’s recent poor form and waste in front of goal have affected his confidence to seize the opportunity.

‘If he scores goals for fun, as usual, then I think that fits in. it is not that hard. It just comes off his shin. He is completely wrong,” he said.

“That’s the one that’s going to be going through his mind tonight because that was in the first half, it could have been so different.”

Gary McAllister agreed, saying: “It fell beautifully on his left pin. You would have put your mortgage on Mo Salah to take advantage of that opportunity. It was a simple opportunity for someone of his ability and he will regret that miss.

Even when he has a bad game, Salah always has the ability to push that aside and when he gets chances like that you always want him to score. It was a big miss for someone with his abilities.’

While Liverpool started promisingly in Bergamo, taking a 1-0 lead from the penalty spot seven minutes later, they faced fierce control from their opponents in the second half.

Atalanta executed their plan perfectly and suffocated Liverpool, depriving them of space and opportunities.

Liverpool fans will point to a moment in the first half when Isak Hien handled the ball as Luis Diaz raced through on goal, which was a harsh decision against them.

Hien was shown a yellow card, but could easily have been shown a red card, which would have changed the atmosphere of the game.

Crouch was baffled at the call for Hien not to be sent off, saying: ‘I immediately shouted for a red card. You see him leaning against the ball.

‘It’s a clear movement of the arm. I think Diaz goes in here, I think he touches it. I think this should be a red card. He leans right against it. I don’t think the player on the right is covering him.

“I understand why he doesn’t get it because the defender comes across to cover and I think he thinks he can get there. But he is so good, Diaz, at transferring defenders.”