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Sadio Mane pledged Liverpool will fight for a “dream” quadruple after scoring twice in the Reds’ thrilling FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City.
Mane added to Ibrahima Konate’s opener with a first-half double, closing down stand-in City goalkeeper Zack Steffen to score in bizarre fashion before netting a brilliant volley on the stroke of half-time to make it 3-0.
Goals at either end of the second half from Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva hauled City back into the contest, but Liverpool held firm.
Having scored in a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last week, Mane has now netted 10 goals against City in all competitions, only finding the net more often against Crystal Palace (12) amongst Premier League teams.
After becoming the first Liverpool player to score a Wembley double since Steve McManaman did so in the 1995 EFL Cup final against Bolton Wanderers, Mane told BBC Sport: “I think from the start of the game we played very well. We started very well, everybody was on the front foot, we pressed them high.
“We pushed them to make a mistake [for his first goal] and for that we got our reward.
“That’s Liverpool, that’s our style of play. Of course, it was not easy for them. I think that made the difference.
“I think today is special because we faced one of the best teams in the world. If you win this kind of game – especially a semi-final – of course, it’s a big dream, a big win. We are very pleased and very happy to qualify for the final.”
With the Reds progressing to their first FA Cup final since 2012, in addition to battling City for the Premier League title and facing Villarreal in the Champions League semi-finals, they could yet win an unprecedented quadruple.
“We’ll see,” he said. “We have a lot of games to go, we will try to do our best.
“It’s a dream, for sure. We’ll go for it, we’ll fight for it.”
Mane’s brace also made him the first Liverpool player to score an FA Cup semi-final double since Robbie Fowler netted twice in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa in 1996, and team-mate Thiago Alcantara was keen to highlight Mane’s contribution.
“It talks about us, it talks about our hunger when we press like Sadio’s [first] goal, it talks about the players we have in terms of Sadio’s second goal, and also the great passers we have,” he told Liverpool’s official website.
“He [Mane] is a fighter with a lot of technique, so he knows how to mix it up and to do what we need. He was unbelievable.
“I think the first half was amazing, our best first half this season. Suddenly in the second half we just threw away the first half, but we are really happy with the qualification.”
Liverpool’s win was their first against City at Wembley, having lost both of their previous head-to-head clashes at the national stadium on penalties after 1-1 draws (the 2016 League Cup final and the 2019 Community Shield).
