2. A Tale of two keepers
For all of the talk of the attacking quality on display between the two teams, it was the two keepers who stole the show on Tuesday. At various parts of the game, both Simon Mignolet and Thibaut Courtois kept their side in the tie by making some crucial interventions. Although he has been derided for his performances so far this season, Mignolet showed just why he is still the Liverpool No.1 and outperformed his compatriot in a game that was dominated by the men between the posts.
If the first half was dominated by Courtois, the second was dominated by his fellow Belgian. Both keepers displayed two completely different yet important facets of goalkeeping. While Courtois did make a couple of good saves in the first half, it was his command of his area that was striking about his performance. At the other end though, Mignolet gave a master class on saving with his left as he ensured that it finished nil-nil after 90 minutes. If his save from Costa’s deflected effort was good, his tackle when Costa went clean through was even better and although it was in a losing cause, it will give Mignolet plenty of confidence going forward.
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