Mane Brace Sends Liverpool Top

By Joshua Walters

Sadio Mane scored a brace, and Mohamed Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri provided one each as Liverpool continued their impressive start to the season with a 4-1 win over Cardiff City at Anfield.

Sadio Mane’s brace pushes his goal tally this season to six, one more ahead of Mohamed Salah as Shaqiri’s represented his first competitive goal since joining Liverpool from Stoke City last summer.

The win takes Jurgen Klopp’s men to the top of the league with 26 points, three points above Manchester City, who face Tottenham Hotspurs at Wembley on Monday night.

Mohammed Salah opened the floodgates in the 10th minute when he fired a rebound inside the left post after the ball broke to him in the box.

Virgil Van Dijk nearly scored Liverpool’s second in the 13th minute when a cross arrived in the goalmouth from a corner kick. The defender outjumped the Cardiff City guard, but saw his promising header bounced off the right post.

Adam Lallana planted a goal-bound header towards the left post after a nice cross inside the box, two minutes into the extra time of the first half, but defender Sean Morrison managed to deflect it away.

Liverpool continued their dominance from the second half, and Sadio Mane pounced on a loose ball inside the box in the 66th minute to fire a shot past goalkeeper Neil Etheridge amid a challenge from three Cardiff City defenders.

Callum Paterson brought the visitors into the game with a consolation goal in the 77th minute by latching on to a pass inside the penalty box to fire a perfect low shot that went into the middle of the goal.

Xherdan Shaqiri restored the two-goal lead for the hosts in the 83rd minute when he received the ball inside the box, reacted quickly and without any problems, stabbed the ball low inside the left post.

Sadio Mane put the game beyond the reach of the visitors in the 87th minute by feeding on Mohamed Salah’s pass to score with a delightful chipped finish.