Sadio Mane notched his 100 th goal for the Reds by opening the scoring goal against Crystal Palace and in doing so broken the Premier League record previously held by Robin van Persie.
The Senegalese forward, Sadio Mane backed up his strike six days ago at Leeds United with the opener against the Eagles at Anfield. And, certainly, Crystal Palace was sick of Mane’s sight who has now scored in nine consecutive games against them.
His strike brought out his century in all competitions on his 224 th appearance and also marked his ninth consecutive game where he scored against Crystal Palace.
As a result, Klopp pointed out that Mane’s contribution is not only about his goals as he became the 18 th player in Liverpool’s history to reach the 100 th goal mark placing him level with Kevin Keegan who hit 100 in 323 appearances between 1971 and 1977. Also, he topped the previous record held by Robin van Persie who scored in eight successive games against Stoke City.
Mane’s run for goals against the south Londoners began in August 2017 when he scored a winner in a 1-0 success at Anfield. That was followed up by the winning goal in a 2-1 victory at Selhurst Park later that season. Twice, Mane notched in the 93 rd minute in the 2018/19 season to keep his run going.
The first if those late strikes came in a 2-0 win at Palace before he again scored in stoppage time in a seven-goal thriller on Merseyside. Mane bagged the opener in a 2-1 success in Liverpool’s title-winning season before he got on the scoresheet in a 4-0 rout later that year.
Last season, the 29-year-old netted in a 7-0 demolition at Selhurst Park before getting in on the act on the final day of last season. Mane has bought up his century of goals in 224 appearances, an impressive strike rate for someone who plays out wide and is known for his team play.
His haul of 26 in the 2018/19 season remains his single-season high. Last term, he struggled for form in patches and continues to come in for criticism whilst his team-mate Mohammed Salah scores with regularity.
Despite that, Klopp hailed the striker as he said, “Sadio scored for the ninth time against Palace and his 100 th for Liverpool and that’s exceptional”. Said Klopp.
“But people forget around these 100 goals he worked incredibly hard, defended well, pressed high, counter pressed”.
“The 100 goals are just one number but I am just really happy for him. It’s a massive achievement in the glorious history of this club. Nowadays players are not normally as long at clubs. So I am really happy I could work so long with him”.