Two goals, a disallowed 45-yarder and a yellow card for diving.
Mohamed Salah’s first Super Lig start was not a quiet afternoon.
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Trabzonspor beat Istanbul Basaksehir 2-1 at Papara Park on Sunday, and Salah scored both.
The first arrived after eight minutes, when he closed down away goalkeeper Muhammed Sengezer, dispossessed him and got a shot away that went in off a deflection and the inside of the post.
VAR checked it before the goal stood.
Eldor Shomurodov levelled from the penalty spot on 19 minutes, and it stayed 1-1 at the break.
Three minutes into the second half Salah put Trabzonspor back in front, meeting an Ernest Muci pass with a first-time finish from ten yards.
He wasn’t done.
With 11 minutes left he went down in the box and was booked for simulation.
Then, in injury time, he spotted the goalkeeper off his line and scored from 45 yards into an empty net, a goal that would have completed a hat-trick and made every highlight reel going.
The offside flag cut it short.
This was Salah’s third appearance since arriving in Turkey.
He came off the bench against Kasimpasa last weekend and started the Europa League play-off first leg, which Trabzonspor lost to Ferencvaros.
The two-year deal he signed is worth a reported £280,000 per week, and it came after a summer in which a Saudi Arabian move had looked the likelier outcome.
He left Anfield on a free transfer having scored 257 goals in nine years.
The circumstances remain contested.
Salah has spoken publicly about how he was treated in his final months at the club, suggesting someone there no longer wanted him, and reports of a breakdown with then-manager Arne Slot preceded the announcement that he’d leave at the end of the season.
The timing of his brace won’t help Liverpool supporters process it.
A few hours earlier at St James’ Park, Andoni Iraola’s side had opened their Premier League campaign with a 2-2 draw they were fortunate to get.
Anthony Elanga struck inside five minutes, Cody Gakpo equalised on 55, and Joe Willock restored Newcastle’s lead almost immediately.
Liverpool laboured in the final third for most of it.
They were rescued in the 99th minute, when substitute Victor Munoz was fouled by Lewis Hall and Dominik Szoboszlai converted the penalty into the top corner.
A point away at Newcastle is a reasonable start for a new manager.
It reads differently alongside a former talisman scoring twice on the same afternoon, and the debate about whether Liverpool were right to let him go is only going to get louder.