Sadio Mane sends message to Liverpool team-mate Alisson after penalty exploits

The Senegalese international had an opportunity to seal his side’s victory after Cesar Azpilicueta’s missed shot for the Blues, but his shot from 12 meters out was kept at bay by compatriot Edouard Mendy.

However, Alisson stepped up front and made a great save with one hand to thwart Mason Mount and Kostas Tsimikas stepped forward to take home the crucial penalty.

Mane had scored two crucial penalties for his country earlier this season, sealing his country’s first-ever Africa Cup of Nations triumph and World Cup berth at the expense of Mohamed Salah’s Egypt.

The former Southampton striker failed to repeat the trick at Wembley and was grateful to his impressive goalkeeper for coming to his rescue.

He said: “I think all the credit goes to Alisson for missing the penalty myself, but who cares? The most important thing is to win the cup and we did it.

“Alisson, he deserves all the credit. I’m happy for him and we’re all happy and proud.”

For Tsimikas, on the other hand, who came on as a late substitute to replace the exhausted Andy Robertson, the overwhelming feeling was relief after deciding to put his name to his side’s seventh penalty.

He said: “We gave absolutely everything. Kudos to the boys. We have to celebrate hard. But tomorrow is the next day, we still have a lot to do. We have the Premier League games and we have the grand final.

“It’s very, very special to me. The manager asked me what number I want. I say number seven. He asks me why so far? I say I want number seven. And number seven gave me the opportunity to win the game. I choose the right side and score. And I’m very happy with that.

“We want to win. Our goal from the start of the season was to do it, but hopefully we’ll be happy in the end. We have to celebrate now, but we still have the upcoming games in mind. We have to be 100% focused if we want to achieve our goals.”

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