Faced with a still hot Leicester in the match against Manchester City two days ago, the Reds were shot down by Salah’s missed penalty and the opening scoring in the 59th minute of play.
TOPS
Heroic, Kasper Schmeichel disgusts the attack of the Reds
Kasper Schmeichel, son of Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel, had one of the greatest matches of his career. His stoppage in the 15th minute of play on Salah’s penalty was decisive since thanks to him, the Foxes stayed in their match, and believed until Lookman took charge, at the opener. . He achieves the feat of being the only goalkeeper in the league not to concede a goal against Liverpool this season (1-0). He completely ate Salah mentally tonight, who was getting nowhere after his missed penalty. The Danish goalkeeper held the house until the last minute, and made capital parades during the last 15 endless minutes of this meeting.
Lookman, the turning point of the match
His entry into play completely unlocked the encounter. While the Foxes had still not framed a strike, he entered in place of Choudhury (56th) and scored the opener three minutes later, entangling Liverpool in an ultra-delicate situation which they did not knew how to get out. He dynamited the Foxes’ attack with his deep calls and his very good exchanges in the left lane with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, also very good. The only scorer of the meeting, he is the second man in this historic match for Leicester.
The management of Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers, who had complained a few days earlier in the press about the “ridiculous” schedule that his team had to deal with, had a superb operation at home tonight. The Foxes faced, in 48 hours, the first and second in the Premier League. Despite the severe rating of the match against Manchester City (6-3), the English technician’s players showed an attractive face with a very good reaction (three goals in 10 minutes). Two days later, his players emerge victorious in the match against the Reds, without conceding a goal, a first this season for an opponent from Liverpool. The England coach, who couldn’t offer his players a day off, handled his squad’s rotation very well tonight. Proof of this is the entry into play of Lookman (59th), left to rest at the start of the match despite his good performance against City, who took only three minutes to unblock the situation, and offer victory to his coach. In the end, Liverpool’s big break was a burden against the energy and fire of Brendan Rodgers’ team, who can finally rest.
And immediatelyTrapped in Leicester, Liverpool let City fly
FLOPS
When Salah no longer scores, Liverpool no longer wins
After a sad match against Tottenham on December 19, the championship’s top scorer was once again sorely lacking in realism tonight. An imperial Kasper Schmeichel will have had the Egyptian, who has not scored since the match against Newcastle on December 16. Nothing alarming, sure, but it just proves that when Salah doesn’t score, Liverpool don’t win anymore. The image of his penalty missed in the 15th minute of play, Salah completely missed his match. He could have corrected the shot after the parade of the Danish goalkeeper, but the head of the Egyptian, who took the ball pushed back by the Dane, hit the bar. His few attempts have all been taken out by the Foxes’ goalkeeper, or stopped by a blue defense which has managed the “danger Salah” very well. Certainly disturbed by his missed penalty early in the match (this had not happened to him for 4 years in the Premier League), Salah missed everything afterwards, and faded over the minutes, becoming invisible after the opening of the scoring of the Foxes.
Sadio Mané, the breakdown
Like the whole Reds attack, Mané really lacked sharpness tonight. And, like his teammate Mohamed Salah, the Senegalese international could have changed the course of the match, if he had scored one of his biggest chances, and this duel against Schmeichel in the 59th. This strike, above the goals of the Danish goalkeeper, reveals all the flaws of the African player of the year 2019, who seems to have lost all confidence for a month. Sadio Mané has not scored for 8 matches with the Reds, his last goal dates back to November 20 against Arsenal.
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