MANE’S RESCUE MISSION
Forward caps fightback as Liverpool refuse to surrender
TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD knew the clock was against him as he dashed over to take one last corner. The afternoon of his 100th Liverpool appearance had been an ordeal but, still, there was time to make a difference.
He puffed out his cheeks and steadied himself. As AlexanderArnold began his run- up, Sadio Mane darted away from Aston Villa substitute Connor Hourihane. Suddenly the Senegal forward had space and, as the corner arrived, he was there to inflict maximum damage.
Mane’s contact was perfect and he steered his header in the perfect direction. In slow motion, the ball bounced into the corner of Tom Heaton’s net. Liverpool had won, Aston Villa’s hearts were broken and, 80 miles north in Manchester, the impact of this set-play would surely have been felt.
This, really, should have been the afternoon when Liverpool lost a Premier League fixture for the first time in 10 months. Villa — bursting with aggression and enthusiasm and relentlessly encouraged by noisy fans — had taken them to the brink. They were still leading in the 86th minute.
Liverpool, though, are a remarkable team. They could have capsized here and lamented a ridiculous VAR decision that chalked off a Roberto Firmino goal in the first half — the Premier League have left themselves open to ridicule after issuing a statement to say the Brazilian’s armpit was offside.
Yet they kept going. Klopp calls his players ‘mentality monsters’ and they showed why in the final throes of an absorbing contest, first when Andrew Robertson equalised with a flying header, then, in injury time, as Mane sparked utter bedlam in the stadium’s away section.
‘ We ma d e it difficult for ourselves,’ said Klopp, who looked emotionally spent. ‘We just had to try to score. It’s not because we had a couple of comebacks that I thought we could do it. How can you think that? We just knew it was possible. The boys really tried.’
And their persistence completely altered the dynamic of the weekend. At 86 minutes, Manchester City had whittled Liverpool’s advantage down to three points ahead of next Sunday’s showdown at Anfield. Pep Guardiola would have travelled to Merseyside knowing victory would put his team top.
Instead, the gap between them remains six points and perhaps that header by Mane — who was booked for diving after 33 minutes — has demoralised City a little. Each time they look like putting a hand on their shoulder, Liverpool push on again and show they don’t know when to stop.
Their last four matches in the Premier League — Leicester, Manchester United, Tottenham and Villa — have seen goals in the final 15 minutes that have enabled them to pilfer an extra eight points. How significant will that prove in May? The shot in the arm will be huge.
Everything about the build- up told you this is how football should be: 3pm on a Saturday, a packed stadium and two traditional teams kitted out for a proper contest. Villa, with three wins from four, looked ready to cause problems.
They confirmed that impression within 40 seconds when Anwar El Ghazi powered his way past Mane and cracked a drive from the edge of the penalty area that bounced off Alisson’s chest. Like the first ontarget jab in a boxing match, it lifted the crowd and got them roaring.
Liverpool, certainly, were unsettled. They struggled for rhythm and could not find a way to meaningfully hurt Vil l a. The closest they came was when Mane, who had peeled away to the back post, headed Jordan Henderson’s cross wide.
The miss proved costly as, five minutes l ater, Liverpool were behind. The outstanding John McGinn, having been bundled over by Mane, delivered a superb free-kick and Trezeguet provided the finish that was demanded, his volley having too much power for Alisson.
There were no complaints from Liverpool’s defence but, still, VAR was brought into action. Those who had paid for entry had no idea what was going on but in the press box, we saw yellow and blue l i nes being manoeuvred and pixels being blown up to see if Trezeguet’s goal should stand.
Villa have been burned by VAR a couple of times already this season and the home supporters let their feelings be known in the bluntest manner as they waited and waited for the decision to come through. It shouldn’t be this way.
It got worse with VAR in the 27th minute. Firmino looked to have
scored a perfectly good goal from Mane’s cross but, somehow, Martin Atkinson in Stockley Park deemed it to be offside. One wonders how Klopp would have reacted to this had his team failed to win.
As it was, Liverpool changed the dynamic of the discussion completely. It would be wrong to say they played with fluency but in the second half, when Klopp made three telling substitutions, their relentlessness left Villa looking vulnerable.
Robertson, such an indefatigable presence, rescued Liverpool as the clock ticked down, flinging himself to head in Mane’s inviting cross. His reaction — grabbing the ball rather than celebrating — showed you Liverpool were not done and so it proved. ‘The best goal in football,’ said Klopp, when asked how he felt after such a late winner. It may turn out to be their most important of the season, too.