Liverpool vs Everton: Anfield delights in latest episode of the Super Mane series

With two A-grade assists and a goal that could act as a portrait of Kloppball, Mane was the playmaker-in-chief, the puppet master and the power source in a 5-2 win for the hosts

Melissa Reddy
Senior Football Correspondent
Thursday 05 December 2019 09:33 GMT
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On a night when Liverpool ran riot against their old rivals at Anfield, Sadio Mane made it seem like he was operating on a different stratosphere to those around him, delivering another performance that reaffirms his claim to being the league’s standout player this season.

The moments of magic came thick and fast, each one a reminder of his brilliance and instinct both on and off the ball.

Take his curved perfect pass around Mason Holgate and Michael Keane, which dissected the space between the latter and Yerry Mina, allowing Divock Origi to round Jordan Pickford after he’d rushed from his line.

Or when he manipulated the ball and then his marker – controlling Trent Alexander-Arnold’s diagonal, before drawing in Everton’s Colombia international only to skip inside him – to supply Xherdan Shaqiri with the neatest reverse set-up.

There was the way he encapsulated Liverpool’s status as transition kings when he collected Virgil van Dijk’s clearance from a corner, shrugged off an Alex Iwobi challenge by dinking slightly, then accelerated to feed his right-back, furiously continuing his run to arrive on time and find the back of the net.

And let’s not forget his divine touch from Jordan Henderson’s delivery or the manner in which he distracted Lucas Digne, Mina and Keane with his movement as Gini Wijnaldum netted Liverpool’s fifth in the Merseyside derby.

Sans Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, the Senegalese was the reference point for their stand-ins Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi. More than that, he was the funnel for the best facets of Liverpool’s play, the snazzy blurring filter on their imperfect defensive showing.

With two A-grade assists and a goal that could act as a portrait of Kloppball, Mane was the playmaker-in-chief, the puppet master and the power source in a 5-2 win for the hosts.

It was the latest episode in his Super Mane series, televised since the summer of 2016 when he swapped Southampton for Liverpool. The ratings may have fallen first to the Salah Show and then Virgil van Dijk’s Calm as You Like, but it has been unmissable in 2019.

The attacker has 30 goals in the calendar year, coming against opponents like Bayern Munich, Leicester, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool’s oldest foes. If what he can do with the ball is not wondrous enough, he is a workhorse without it. As Klopp’s assistant Pep Lijnders once so tidily put it: “Sadio, phwoar! A machine.”

Mane, who “belongs in the top bracket in world football” Andy Robertson reminded, was Arsene Wenger’s pick for the Ballon d’Or. Why? “I would say – because he is a fighter… and efficient,” offered the Frenchman. “He’s not scared of anybody. At the moment, he deserves huge credit.”

Mane was the guy that The GuyLionel Messi – had voted for in Fifa’s The Best awards.

Why? “Because he’s a player that I like. Mane achieved a great year that was exceptional for the entire Liverpool team.”

The frontrunner for the Africa Player of the Year prize finished behind Messi, van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d’Or rankings, with the Barcelona deity adding to Canal+ that “it’s a shame to see Mane finish in fourth place.”

When the greatest of our generation holds a player in such esteem, it’s certainly time for award panels to do the same.

Mane should sweep up at the Confederation of African Football awards and be in prime position to land both the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year accolades.

Kevin De Bruyne is a marvel of a midfielder, often barely believable in the range of mastery he can use to bend games to his will. Jamie Vardy’s persistence in piercing a defence’s resistance with maximum efficiency deserves plaudits, while Tammy Abraham’s excellence for a remodelled Chelsea should continue to receive standing ovations.

There have been stellar individual contributions from so many quarters, but there is none quite as breathless, as obvious, as overwhelming as that of Liverpool’s top scorer this season.

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