‘Absolutely insane’; Klopp picks out star performer but ‘not excited’ with Liverpool romp
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp felt his side had to work hard to beat Leeds and reserved special praise for the performance of Sadio Mane.
The Reds went into the match as strong favourites and ended up on the right side of a 6-0 scoreline. Mohamed Salah bagged two first-half penalties while Joel Matip also got on the score sheet in the first 45 minutes. Leeds upped their game after the break and it took the hosts until the 80th minute to add a fourth when Mane notched his first.
The striker then doubled his tally on 90 minutes before Virgil van Dijk headed home in injury time. The gulf between the sides was huge.
Klopp was happy with how the game played out but paid full respect to the opposition.
“In the end it went pretty smoothly. It was really hard work because they make it hard work,” he told BT Sport. “It is tricky playing against a man marking side, you feel pressure where no pressure is.
“We had to be fully concentrated and we were and in the end it is a wonderful night.”
And the German hailed the cool nature of Salah’s brace of spot kicks.
“There might be some people out there who think penalties you should not count them but you want the right person on the spot to put them away and that is what Mo did,” he added.
Klopp staying grounded despite Mane insanity
Salah was outstanding throughout the match but his strike partner caught the manager’s eye.
“Sadio Mane’s game was probably one of his best in the way he interpreted his role,” he continued. “Absolutely insane.
“In the end top game, top for the people. In a really good shape and a wonderful night at Anfield. Leeds had good spells but I think it is really difficult to play the way they did for 90 minutes against a team like us.”
But, ever the pragmatist, Klopp made it clear that neither he nor his players will be getting too ahead of themselves.
“I am not excited, it is normal after a night like this people get carried away and that is fine but Sunday is looming and we have to be ready for this,” he said.
“We have 10 days no league game and City probably playing in that time. It is how it is and we have to win our football games and if we do that we will be around and if we don’t do that we won’t.”
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