Sadio Mane pledged Liverpool will fight for a “dream” quadruple after scoring a brace in the Reds’ thrilling FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City.
Mane added Iraima Konate’s goal with an opener twice in the first half, shutting out City goalkeeper Zack Steffen’s extravagant goal before 3-0 at half-time.
Goals at the end of the second half from Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva put City back in contention, but Liverpool held on tight.
Having scored in a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last week, Mane has scored 10 goals against City in all competitions, netting several times against Crystal Palace (12) among Premier League teams.
After the first Liverpool player to beat Wembley twice since Steve McManaman did so in the 1995 EFL Cup final against Bolton Wanderers, Mane told BBC Sport: “I think we have played very well since the start of the game. We started very well. everyone was walking on the front foot, we pressed them up.
“We pushed them to make a mistake [with his first goal] and so we got our reward.
“That’s Liverpool, that’s our style of play. Yes it wasn’t easy for them. I think that made a difference.
“I think today is special because we are facing one of the best teams in the world. If you win this type of game – especially the semi-finals – anyway, it ‘s a big dream, a big win. We are very happy and very happy to be in the finals.”
As the Reds advance to their first FA Cup final since 2012, in addition to fighting for City to win the Premier League title and face Villarreal in the Champions League semi-finals, they can still win an unprecedented quadruple.
“We’ll see,” he said. “We still have a lot of games to play, we will try our best.
“A dream, indeed. We will go, we will fight for it.”
Mane’s goal also made him the first Liverpool player to win the FA Cup twice in the semi-finals since Robbie Fowler netted twice in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa in 1996, and teammate Thiago Alcantara wanted to highlight Mane’s contribution.
“It’s about us, it’s about our hunger when we press like Sadio’s [first] goal, it’s about the players we have about Sadio’s second goal, and the big sponsors we have,” he told the Liverpool website.
“[Mane] is a very talented fighter, so he can put that together and do what we need. He was unbelievable.
“I think the first half was amazing, our first good half this season. Then in the second half we just dropped the first half, but we’re very happy with the fit.”
Liverpool’s win was their first game against City at Wembley, as they lost in their last two eye-catching matches at the national stadium in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw (the 2016 League Cup final and the 2019 Community Shield final).
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