Liverpool Opinion: Sadio Mane starred in the 4-1 demolition of Porto
Liverpool progressed to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Portuguese giants FC Porto at the Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday night, having won the first leg at Anfield 2-0 last week.
Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane all got their names on the scoresheet as the rampant Reds made easy work of Porto away from home to set up a semi-final showdown with Barcelona.
Jurgen Klopp’s side arguably had the easiest of the draws in the quarterfinals and few would have expected them to have too many problems in overcoming Porto. After a neat 2-0 victory at Anfield, the Reds were already in pole position to make it to the last 4 and they did so in style.
Well known as one of the giant killers in European football, Porto have always given top-quality opposition a tough time on their home turf and Liverpool found themselves under the cosh in the opening 35 minutes or so.
The likes of Jesus Manuel Corona and Yacine Brahimi created a lot of openings but Moussa Marega wasn’t able to capitalise on those chances. Porto had the lion share of possession in the first half and edged Liverpool out both in terms of the number of passes and shots on target, though the Reds did well to weather the early storm.
Liverpool just needed a single goal to put the tie beyond Porto’s reach and it was Sadio Mane who stepped up and delivered the goods, not for the first time in the season.
The Senegalese ace has been in terrific form this season and stretched every inch of his diminutive frame to put the Reds 3-0 up on aggregate midway through the first half.
Although Mane’s opener didn’t dampen Porto’s spirits, Mo Salah’s clinical finish off Trent Alexander-Arnold’s delightful pass in the second half seemed to set the cat amongst the pigeons for the home side. Roberto Firmino headed it in from Henderson’s lobbed pass after Eder Militao had pulled one back for the hosts.
Mane then timed his jump to perfection to flick it on from James Milner’s corner to assist Virgil van Dijk, who scored Liverpool’s fourth of the night to ensure that the scoreline looked flattering despite a pretty average display from last year’s finalists.
Well, Mane, Firmino and Salah all scored in the 4-1 win but it was the Senegalese international who was once again the pick of the front trio, as he has been so often this season. Mane registered a goal and an assist on the night to take his tally to a staggering 22 goals and 5 assists in all competitions.
His goal in the first half might not be the most spectacular of his tally this season but the 27-year-old deserves all the credit for showcasing wonderful predatory instincts inside the box to get into the right position and his stretch to guide the ball into the net spoke volumes of his athleticism, high levels of fitness and hunger to score goals.
Mane has always been praised for his work ethics and he contributed a lot defensively as well, on a night where Liverpool struggled to keep hold of the ball like they usually do. He once again reminded the fans what a perfect team player he is and used every bit of his stamina to track back and cope with Porto’s attacking threat.
The Senegalese ace played a total of 20 passes at an accuracy percentage of 70, including 2 key passes and 1 successful long ball, which is a little below his usual standards but good enough considering that Liverpool didn’t have much of the ball in the first half.
Mane registered 3 shots, 3 dribbles and as many as 6 successful tackles over the course of the 90 minutes, stats which would even make a centre-back proud.
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Mane proved his worth with another useful and gritty performance in Portugal and he will hold the key to Liverpool’s success when they lock horns with Barcelona on the 30th of April.
