Adrian proved the hero as his penalty save earned Liverpool a 5-4 shoot-out win after a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup.
Adrian – who joined Liverpool on a free transfer last week and may not have played but for Alisson Becker’s injury – kept out Tammy Abraham’s penalty to give Liverpool their first silverware of the season at approaching 1am local time in Istanbul, at the end of an entertaining encounter in the first-ever all-English Super Cup.
Chelsea had earlier taken a deserved lead through Olivier Giroud’s smart finish (36) but the half-time introduction of Roberto Firmino swung the balance, and within 90 seconds he had set-up Sadio Mane to level (47).
While the rest of normal time could not produce another goal, Liverpool went ahead five minutes into extra time as a Mane rocket beat Kepa Arrizabalaga, but a soft penalty given when Adrian brushed Abraham inside the box allowed Jorginho to level from the spot (101).
In the shoot-out, nine perfect penalties meant it was all-or-nothing for Abraham. His low spot-kick down the middle was kept out by Adrian’s feet, as the Spanish goalkeeper proved the hero and gave Liverpool victory.
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COMMENTS
Please whoever watched this match should help me. What’s Klopp’s issue with Mane? How do you substitute your best player and the only real threat to Chelsea’s goal? Then an Origi comes in to take his exact position. What’s Mane’s offence?
Why not replace the ineffective Salah. What’s this love affair with Salah? Not the first time he’s doing this to Mane. One match last season he had to apologize to Mane openly for this kind of sub. Don’t tell me Liverpool won,I’m saying something deeper.
With all the substitutions going on around him Pedro wasn’t substituted and you could easily see why- arguably the best Chelsea player in this match.
So why will Klopp sub a Mane,when Salah was even fatigued. Firmino and Mane were beginning to enjoy themselves when the substitution board went up.
Spot on @Oge. For me, Mane is the deadliest of the front 3, followed by Firminho. I do think sometimes, Salah is all hype and selfish play with less creativity in the final third, compared to Mane. But for some strange reasons, Klopp loves to substitute Mane and leave the predictable and less effective Salah on the pitch.
Firminho may not score always, but he’s brilliant, brilliant always, and always creating a lot of troubles in the opponent’s 18 and chances upon chances for his teammates. Origi is not even half the player Mane is. He flashes now and then, but Mane is arguably Liverpool’s best player.
Mane was obviously surprised and not happy about the substitution today (the player that scored both goals and undoubtedly Africa’s best at the moment) and I hope he doesn’t force a move to Real Madrid soon. He was the missing piece in the loss of the community shield to Man City last week and I think he’s the most feared of the front 3 by opponents. But just like you, I still can’t explain Klopp’s attitude. I thought I was the only one that fumes when the coach yanks him off when dude is always a lively wire upfront.
@Kel,that makes two of us.O yes,dude wasn’t happy for obvious reasons.
Even if we consider fitness(like I did before putting up the first post),holiday doesn’t always mean loss of fitness, some players do personal training during hols. Okay,agreed that means Klopp knows better than us on this because,he’s there with Mane.
I therefore dare to ask what he’s doing with the info he knows.
Will I have the opportunity for checkmate and delay it,@Lord AMO? We watch Mane and there’s a time you just know that Mane is in the mood,it’s almost tangible.It’s like Cristiano in Madrid,there are so many times you look at his mood and you can be almost certain that Cristiano Ronaldo would get a goal and most often than not,he really does.I recall ManU under Fergie,you just know when they would score-it would be written in their mood.
Over time,it’s clear when Mane enters that mood and Firmino understood that too in this match. Does Klopp not know that too?
Then there is the matter of durability. It’s always a blessing when you have that player that is durable. A Robben is not a Cristiano or Messi in body durability. So where you push Cristiano, pls sub off Robben. Mane is very durable,so not risky leaving him till 90mins,when you know he’s in the mood and he’s your most dangerous on the pitch. In the end it’s penny wise pound foolish,he risked the fitness of the entire back line.I pitied them as they struggled with fatigue.I think it was Gomez who came down with cramp and Van Dijk was helping him- and you could see that Van Dijk himself was fagged out.
Firmino too was over-worked because,he only resumed training recently. Infact on Firmino,it was Klopp who said so,he said he was sorry for Firmino because,he knew Firmino shouldn’t play that long.
Unnecessary hassles he created for his team.
And this is not the first time. Notice how quick he is to sub off Mane,if Mane doesn’t seemingly perform.Then Mane performs and there are days like this,not once-not twice,that Klopp conjures a reason to sub him. I wish he knows that the injury that kept Salah out of that second leg against Barca,was a disguised blessing. He seems not to know how Mane is so important to his team. He should stop confusing the young man.
I think the answer may be levels of fitness. Remember, Mane played in the afcon final and most likely went on at least a 3 week break which means he hasnt had the same amount of fitness work as have the other strikers on tow. Plus its still early in the season for a cup that is somewhat meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Saving the bullets for the main battles. Chess not checkers they say
Am i the only one seeing the hand writings on the wall around T.Abraham_ coming off the bench to miss That penalty’ as a striker where midfielders all strived better. How patient can couch Franky be…’?