Full Time: Stoke City 0-3 Liverpool
Liverpool pulled off a stunning 3-0 away win against Stoke City at the Bet365 stadium last night, owing to goals from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. The Reds were clearly the dominant team and a first-half strike from Mane saw them earn a lead by half-time. The second-half saw the Merseysiders continue their spectacular form as a struggling Stoke could only look on. In fact, most of the home side’s chances only came through fouls just outside the penalty area.
The victory ensures Liverpool sit at 5th place in the points table with one point ahead of Burnley. Let’s take a look at how the Reds fared against Stoke City.
Liverpool Player Ratings
Simon Mignolet – 6/10
Mignolet received a yellow card for a harsh challenge on Mame Biram Diouf which should have actually sent him off. However, the player stayed back and notched up a clean sheet.
Joe Gomez – 7.5/10
The youngster dealt quite admirably with Choupo-Moting and put up yet another solid defensive performance.
Joel Matip – 6/10
Matip failed to ward off threats posed by Stoke in the first-half. In fact, the only reason Mignolet walked away with a clean sheet is due to the poor finishing of Stoke’s strikers.
Dejan Lovren – 7/10
Probably for the first time in the entire season so far, Lovren looked marginally better than Matip. He won several headers and played a neat game of direct football.
Alberto Moreno – 6/10
Moreno started off quite strongly and looked like a match-winner but as time wore on, so did his influence. Also, the player allowed too much space at the back towards the end of the game.
Emre Can – 7/10
Can was on fire in the first-half but picked up a booking after the break and got a bit thrown off. However, he shook it off and provided the long ball that led to Salah’s goal.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6.5/10
Oxlade-Chamberlain passed admirably and made some incisive runs but they did not really add value to the game in any form. Nevertheless, it was an encouraging display from the former Arsenal man.
Georginio Wijnaldum – 7/10
The player got close to ending his goal drought in away games but he put in a solid performance which involved a lot of support to the attack.
Sadio Mane – 8/10
Mane opened Liverpool’s goal-scoring tally and put in a truly admirable performance. He kept trying to make things happen but unfortunately, he couldn’t get his name on the scoresheet once more.
Dominic Solanke – 7/10
Solanke provided an assist in what was his first Premier League start. All in all, the youngster proved to be quite effective on the field.
Roberto Firmino – 6.5/10
Firmino did seem threatening when it came to scoring a goal but he did his job up front as he supported his teammates.
Subs:
Mohamed Salah – 9/10
Salah continues to go from strength-to-strength at Liverpool. He is scoring goals day in and day out and last night was no different.
James Milner – 6/10
Milner kept the pace of the game going but he did not have enough time to truly make an impact.
Jordan Henderson – N/A
Henderson came on too late and there was little scope for him to do anything.