Sadio Mane was in a scary mood during his 45-minute appearance for Liverpool on Wednesday and Rio Ferdinand has waxed lyrical about the Senegal international.
He scored a fantastic goal to double Liverpool’s lead, which he set in motion after bursting past two Atletico Madrid players while using all his agility, pace and strength.
The Liverpool no.10 then passed the ball to Jordan Henderson, who moved it on to Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The Scouser may have been shooting but the ball came across Mane’s path and he made no mistake as he converted past the stranded Jan Oblak.
Mohamed Salah hasn’t scored for two games now in a rare quiet spell for the Egyptian. But Mane has stepped up with two goals of his own and it could have been more but Klopp withdrew him at half-time.
Not only was he on a yellow card but the Atletico Madrid players were kicking him to bits, and the red card that Felipe was shown came after the Brazilian purposefully stood on Mane’s achilles.
Despite that, the game was won in the first half and, as Rio Ferdinand told BT Sport after the game, Mane ran the show.
“Mane is just a nightmare for a defender to play against, awful,” Ferdinand said, via the Metro
“He’s got everything in his locker. He can out-strength you, out-pace you. He’s got guile, quick feet, he’s got it all. I love watching him.”
Hopefully, Mane can carry this purple patch into the final game before the international break, as the clash with West Ham is a must-win to avoid letting Chelsea open up a six-point lead at the top of the table.
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