The Senegal international scored the pivotal second-half goal as Liverpool came from behind to beat Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa at Villa Park. The Reds moved level on points with Manchester City as a result.
Liverpool’s title charge suffered a significant blow last week when they were held 1-1 by Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur. On Tuesday night, the Reds, trailing rivals Manchester City by two points, needed a win or else risked falling completely out of the running for the Premier League trophy with two weeks left to go remaining.
Aston Villa’s relentless start in front of a buzzing home support threatened to derail Liverpool’s bid entirely. Coached by Liverpudlian legend Steven Gerrard, Villa broke into space early on through Ollie Watkins, the forward drawing a superb stop from Alisson in goal.
But, the danger persisted, and Villa recycled the ball quickly out to the left to Lucas Digne, whose pinpoint cross was met by Douglas Luiz charging through the centre of the box. Alisson made a stop again, but Luiz scored the rebound to give his side the lead just three minutes in.
However, Liverpool equalized with the very next attack. A cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold wreaked havoc in the Villa box, and, as the ball eventually rose in the air, Diogo Jota acrobatically flicked it towards Virgil van Dijk, who, in turn, squared it to Joel Matip for the tap in. The match was level with six minutes on the clock.
The quick concession did not deter Villa, who went close again through Watkins and Danny Ings. At the other end, Naby Keita scuffed his shot with a near-empty goal to aim at, while Emiliano Martinez held onto Curtis Jones’s curling effort from outside of the box.
It took 65 minutes for Liverpool to finally take the lead. The talismanic Luis Diaz charged down the left before hanging the ball in the air towards Mane, and the Senegalese forward put his side ahead with a simple flick past Martinez.
Twice Villa went close again through the former Liverpool man Ings. But, Alisson came out on top on both occasions, preserving his team’s lead and allowing them to take all three points from what proved to be a more challenging fixture than what Jurgen Klopp would’ve liked.
