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Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City
by James Nalton
at Anfield
A LATE James Milner penalty helped Liverpool extend their winning streak in the Premier League which now stretches to 17 games.
Milner had assisted the opener for Sadio Mane with a searching through-ball, perfect for the Senegalese forward to latch onto before slotting his shot past Kasper Schmeichel.
James Maddison equalised with Leicester’s first shot on target, and only their second of the game, before Mane was fouled by Mark Albrighton in the box late on.
Referee Chris Kavanagh gave the penalty, with VAR unsurprisingly not overturning his decision, and there was no doubt as to who would take Liverpool’s spot kick.
“To score a penalty you need somebody who can keep his nerve,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
“Millie is obviously the right guy for that, after an impressive performance anyway [from him].”
Mohamed Salah may have been a candidate to take the penalty, but the Egyptian suffered an ankle injury following a reckless tackle from Leicester substitute Hamza Choudhury, and had to be taken off.
Luckily for Liverpool, there is now an international break which will give their star player time to recover.
As is often the case at Liverpool, if one star is down another steps up, and it could be said that Mane is now on a par with his team-mate, if not better.
He leads the club’s goalscoring charts in this early part of the season, looking fit and sharp despite spending his summer with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
On his return to Anfield for the first time since being sacked by the club four years ago, Brendan Rodgers thought his side could have got something from the game.
“You come to a stadium which arguably, in terms of momentum, is one of the most difficult stadiums in Europe,” said the Leicester boss.
“We looked like we could maybe get in front in the game, but it wasn’t to be.”
In the end it was Milner, one of the players Liverpool signed under Rodgers’s watch, who held his nerve from the spot and gave the home side a deserved win.
