Mo Salah’s goal celebration against Leeds explained following Liverpool treble

Mohamed Salah’s latest goal celebration is done in tribute to his Egyptian team-mate Moamen Zakaria, according to reports.

The Liverpool star scored three of their four as they opened the season with a thrilling win over Leeds.

Two of Salah’s goals came from the spot, including the late winner in front of an empty Kop.

The Egyptian celebrated his treble by putting his hands over his ears, an action regularly perform by Zakaria when he scores.

Zakaria has been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly know as Motor Neurone Disease, which affects the brain and spinal cord.

Egyptian journalist Mohamed Adam told the Liverpool Echo: “Much of the Egyptian media is talking about this.

“[Zakaria] is a friend of Salah and everyone in the Egyptian football world is feeling for him.

“This is his trademark celebration so I believe Salah meant it as a tribute.

“Also [Zakaria] wears number eight and Salah did the hand gesture [to represent] eight in Arabic.”

Salah’s treble was crucial in seeing off a spirited Leeds side who equalised three times.

But the prolific goalscorer bemoaned the fact that Anfield remains empty.

He told Sky Sports: “Without fans it’s so tough – especially at Anfield, everybody knows that. But it’s a good start for us.

“A tough team, they press high as well, so the intensity was really high. We had a good game.

“We shouldn’t have conceded three but this is the game, we have to react for that and we did a good job.

“It’s a tough team, to be fair. They had a great game. There’s no fans but they play, they react really well and they scored three goals against us – that’s huge.

“I’m happy about the result and we have to keep on improving and try not to concede as many goals.”