“He was just really aggressive” - Wayne Rooney salutes Chelsea star who gave Mohamed Salah no joy during Liverpool’s 3-1 loss

Wayne Rooney has hailed Marc Cucurella for his role in Chelsea's 3-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday (May 4). The Manchester United legend stated that the defender did well against Mohamed Salah and did not give the Egyptian any chance in the game.

Speaking on BBC's Match of the Day, Rooney said that he was impressed by Cucurella and pointed out that the Chelsea man faced the Liverpool star without any fear. He added that Salah can make players look silly against him but failed to do that against the Spaniard. He said via METRO:

"I was really impressed with Marc Cucurella. I really liked how aggressive he was against Mohamed Salah. He was right in Salah’s face all afternoon, he didn’t give him any time on the ball. Salah can obviously hurt players if he faces you up but Cucurella didn’t let that happen. He kept winning the ball and driving forward, he didn’t really give Salah any joy."

"I think he won the ball back nine times which was more than any other player on the pitch. He was just really aggressive and I think you need to be against Salah because he will cause you massive problems if you give him time. Mo Salah can make you look silly but Cucurella didn’t fear him at all. I was really impressed with him."

Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring for Chelsea before an own goal saw them double the lead. Virgil van Dijk pulled one back but a penalty from Cole Palmer sealed the 3-1 win.

Enzo Maresca on Chelsea plans in win over Liverpool

Enzo Maresca praised Liverpool and claimed that the Reds showed why they are Premier League champions. He added that Chelsea had to play deep in the game because of the pressure on them and said via the club's official website:

"Today Liverpool again showed the reason they won the Premier League. I promise you we did not plan the game to defend deep, we planned the game to high press in the way we always do, but sometimes the other team is so good that you have to defend deep, you have to adapt and the players dealt with that very well."

Chelsea stayed 5th in the Premier League table, level on points and goal difference with Newcastle United. The two sides meet on Sunday (May 11) in the Premier League at St James' Park and it could be a showdown in the top-5 race.