Sadio Mane is not the player Liverpool have missed most and yesterday proved it

Sadio Mane is not Liverpool’s most missed player and he proved it yesterday

Paul Gorst’s Liverpool verdict after Saturday’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League at Anfield

In a season of dismal injuries and unwanted absences, Jurgen Klopp felt as good as Diogo Jota.

A hamstring injury, which worsened during one of the first training sessions of Liverpool’s pre-season tour of Thailand in July, has ruined his summer and sidelined him until early September. Jota’s waiting period only lasted around six weeks before his World Cup dream with Portugal was shattered by a serious calf problem in the closing stages of the 1-0 win over Manchester City October 16.

Officially, Jota has been fit and ready since February, but after spending around six months on the treatment table in those two editions, the No.20 hasn’t been able to make the kind of contribution that he will. propelled him to success. in his career – a whopping 21 goals last season for the Reds. So far it seems. After a two-goal volley in Monday night’s 6-1 win over Leeds, the quiet and unassuming striker added another pair to the tally of the week as Liverpool ended a tough game against Nottingham Forest at Anfield with a nervous and hard-earned 3rd survived -2 ​​victory.

How Klopp will have wished he could pick an iota better at other times in the season, especially in a terrible January when he was also without Roberto Firmino and Luis Diaz. Defeats to Brighton, Brentford and Wolves could have been different stories had the ‘Portuguese guy’ been ready to leave.

His apparent resurgence may have come too late in the day to salvage Champions League hopes, but his clinical double win did at least help close the gap with fourth-placed Newcastle to six points before visiting Tottenham Sunday afternoon.

In a season where lazy pundits have hinted that Sadio Mane was a huge failure at Liverpool, the truth is that Klopp regrets the absence of this version of Jota even more. How different could this season have been if he hadn’t had calf and hamstring issues?

In an uneventful first half – played with a lack of intensity usually reserved for pre-season fixtures – Liverpool struggled to create any clear chances in open play.

Forest’s inability to defend balls in the box gave the Reds the best route to goal, but Jota fended off a glorious chance for their third of the week from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s teasing free-kick after Virgil van Dijk saw a header pass over the Latte. by Keylor Navas. The visitors had to thank Neco Williams early in the half when he cleared the line from Cody Gakpo’s header.

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Set-piece deliveries aside, it was too slow and tedious to break through a stubborn and packed Forest full-back with little skill, although Alexander-Arnold gave his best in the new role of central midfielder he assumes. With the first half looming, Liverpool finally opened the scoring from the restart from set pieces when Jota headed in after Fabinho saved the chance from another dangerous red corner.

Williams fired level at Forest moments later through a deflection from Andy Robertson, who mis-footed Alisson Becker in the Liverpool goal. The Wales international chose not to celebrate against the club that helped him become a Premier League player.

While Jota’s first showed his poaching instincts, his second was top notch as he took Robertson’s delivery from the box to his chest before kicking Navas with his left foot. “He’s the boy from Portugal, better than Figo, you don’t know,” roared the Kop as they dusted off last season’s catchiest patio song. It’s the one that unfortunately didn’t air as regularly this time around.

To their credit, Forest refused to accept their fate and continued to cause their own problems with long throw tactics. Morgan Gibbs-White smashed a low volley past Alisson after Van Dijk only half cleared a start in the box.

Liverpool looked as vulnerable to long throws from Forest as their visitors to dead balls, and it looked like the outcome would depend on which Achilles heel had the bigger goal.

It would be Forest as Mohamed Salah delivered another ball beautifully into the box, this time from the stick to the end of Alexander-Arnold’s right leg. Another assist for him in his new role. It was the Egyptian’s 183rd for the Reds, equaling him with the iconic Robbie Fowler and just three behind Steven Gerrard, who was quite impressed as he watched from the director’s box.

The Reds worked hard for it, but back-to-back victories saw them suddenly smelling the top four again. He may still prove unsuccessful, but there are still 21 points on the line. They couldn’t, could they?