FRIENDS REUNITED!
Liverpool pair almost bury hatchet as Reds continue winning run
FEED the Man and he will score. After recent shenanigans over Mo Salah’s reluctance to pass to him, Sadio Mane found a couple of teammates to give him the ball and he scored a couple of goals.
It propelled Liverpool to a 14th consecutive Premier League win — just four behind Manchester City’s record now — and Jurgen Klopp will be relieved that Salah l at er added hi s name to t he scoresheet because big players have big egos.
This Liverpool machine remain undefeated at Anfield since early 2017 — a run of 43 games. More importantly, they have this season’s only 100 per cent record, this latest win achieved despite conceding an early goal and resting skipper Jordan Henderson on the bench.
If Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola thought last season’s title race was a close-run thing, he ain’t seen nothing yet.
‘Sadio, Mo, really strong day,’ said Klopp, doubtless pleased peace has broken out between his two main match-winners.
‘The first goal was sensational, a sensational finish from Sadio. The third goal [from Salah] was wonderful and we had even better moments we didn’t finish off.’
Two weeks ago at Burnley, Mane threw a strop after being substituted because he felt Salah had been too selfish on the pitch.
Neither protagonist broke the land speed record to congratulate each other after yesterday’s goals but they did arrive to say ‘ Well done’ and that was important.
So often the popular Roberto Firmino is the glue between them and it was the case again.
The Brazilian was named a substitute after his nation’s game against Peru eight time zones away but when Divock Origi went off after 37 minutes with a twisted ankle, Firmino came on and turned a 1-1 scoreline at the time into a comfortable home win.
‘We were relieved to see him on the bench,’ said Toon boss Steve Bruce. ‘Then he came on and made all the difference. Liverpool’s front three are as good as you can get.’
Newcastle had won their previous away game at Spurs with just 19 per cent possession and there were audible gasps when they shocked Liverpool with their first attack after seven minutes.
A lot of the credit was due to Christian Atsu who held the ball and turned in the centre circle before releasing left wing- back Jetro Willems. From there, it was all the Dutchman’s work.
A clever trick saw him cut inside Trent Alexander-Arnold and with the England defender struggling to get close, he fired a right-footer into the top corner.
‘We didn’t see that coming, it was his weaker foot,’ said Bruce. ‘ It gave us a wake-up call,’ said Liverpool’s Andy Robertson. Robertson was key to the equaliser after 28 minutes. He burst down the left and slipped a pass into Mane who was hovering by the angle of the penalty area.
The Senegal star, who is outscoring Salah in 2019, shuffled the ball inside and let rip with a shot as unstoppable as the earlier one from
Willems. Two minutes after Firmino’s arrival, Liverpool were ahead. Joel Matip dispossessed Atsu and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain seized on the loose ball to play in Mane.
The forward got a bit lucky when Martin Dubravka’s initial block broke kindly to him but there was no doubting the love from the Kop as Mane tapped in his second.
‘I think Martin will feel he should have done better when he looks back at it,’ said a disappointed Bruce, with TV pundit Jermaine Jenas considering the goalkeeper’s intervention ‘weak’.
Liverpool also felt they should have had a penalty when Matip tussled with Jamaal Lascelles in the box but VAR didn’t feel the need to ask referee Andre Marriner to check his original decision of no foul.
Liverpool started the second half intent on trying to put the game to bed as quickly as possible. Gini Wijnaldum’s dipping half- volley landed on the roof of the net and Firmino tested Dubravka with a sharply-taken header.
Firmino then flicked a pass into the path of fans’ favourite Robertson who was just inches away from scoring his first goal of the season.
Salah had been quiet until that stage but he came to life just as The Kop started to sing his name after 72 minutes.
He played a pass into Firmino and then accelerated to receive a backheeled return.
Fabian Schar fell over in his effort to stop the Liverpool man and Salah glided into the area before planting a low finish past Dubravka.
Game won, Klopp was able to make changes and give OxladeChamberlain and Wijnaldum early breathers. Mane tapped in for what he hoped was for his hat-trick from Firmino’s pass but it was ruled out for an uncontested offside.