In the crucial battle against Chelsea, Liverpool winger Mane became the absolute protagonist in the first 8 minutes, and with just 15 seconds of the opening yellow, Mane opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 8th minute, giving the Blues striker who kept missing out on opportunities a lesson.
Just 15 seconds into the opening, Mane elbowed Azpilicueta while scrambling for a header, and Anthony Taylor showed Mane a yellow card at the first moment. Since the OPTA website made technical statistics for the 2006-07 season, Mane's 15-second yellowing is the fastest yellowing record in Premier League history.
Neville wasn't happy with Taylor's decision, though, "His elbow touched Azpilicueta's face, and I don't think Mane meant it." McNuerty, however, had a different view, "Only getting a yellow card, Mane can think he's lucky enough." ”
In fact, Tuchel believed Mane deserved a red card and had been complaining to the fourth official. "The Chelsea boss thinks he shouldn't stay on the pitch and Mane is really not good enough, but I don't think he saw Azpilicueta and waved his elbow backwards. ”
He received a yellow card in the opening 15 seconds, but instead became mane's motivation. In the 6th minute, Mane broke the ball in front of him and crossed it, but Salah's low shot was blocked by Mendy.
Just a minute later, Alexander-Arnold made a mistake at the back and was blocked by Havertz, pulisic tried to break through in the face of Kelleher, only to be blocked by the Liverpool goalkeeper. Seeing that Pulisic had missed such an opportunity, Tuchel sat back depressed.
Another minute later, almost the same scene appeared at the other end of the court. Chaloba made a low-level mistake when his header was cleared, and after Mane broke the ball, he broke the left-footed goal after facing the attacking Mendy laterally, giving Pulisic a good lesson.
Neville commented, "Mane did what Pulisic couldn't do, and his powerful shot left Azpilicueta helpless. ”
Mane failed to score in the previous 21 shots on goal in the Premier League, and in the crucial battle against Chelsea, Mane's first shot of the campaign broke the Premier League ball drought. Mane has scored eight goals against Chelsea and has scored nearly three goals against Liverpool against Chelsea.
It was Mane's 10th goal of the season, becoming the sixth Premier League player to score in double figures, followed by Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mahrez, Jota and Vardy. Since the 2012-13 season, Mane has scored in double figures for 10 consecutive seasons. Prior to returning home for the Africa Cup of Nations, Mane made an important contribution to Liverpool.