Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane put the reds in control, despite the German’s side relentless pushing. Salah scored his 24th goal of the season while Mane scored his 11th. – By Madellene Kalunda
Salah scored on the 53rd minute and just five minutes later, it was two. Allison kept a clean sheet to boost his confidence as Leipzig’s defending got worse.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was pleased that his players proved the doubters wrong on their vicotry over RB Leipzig. Klopp’s side broke their winless streak of three straight losses.
They had lost five of their last seven games in all competitions and conceded 14 goals along the way. This triggered rumors all over social media suggesting that Klopp might resign after their 3-1 defeat at Leicester City.
Klopp insisted he would not be quitting or taking a break despite looking worn down by his team’s dreadful run of results of late. The Reds, who have won just two of their last 10 Premier League games, are now in sixth place and battling just to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
“You can’t build mentality giants in one game. Tonight we were good and we deserved to win but it’s only the first leg. A lot of people were waiting for is to slip again and tonight we didn’t. I’m really happy.
“We were good for two years and this year we’ve had some problems. It is absolutely normal that the talk started, it’s fine. A lot of people would have expected us to slip again just because of the situation we’re in and we didn’t. That’s what I’m really happy about,” said Klopp.
It seemed like a tricky encounter for Klopp’s men against Leipzig, who had already beaten both Manchester United and PSG, but they met a Liverpool side that was ruthless in attack and full of energy in midfield.
“It was the game we wanted, it was the game we needed,” Klopp said. “Leipzig can be a real monster. The way they overrun teams in the Bundesliga, they’re good at everything. We controlled the game in an exceptional way.”
Leipzig had its chances but the reds proved to be better, even with four central defenders on the injury list.
