Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has responded to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola subtly accusing Reds attacker Sadio Mane of diving.
On Saturday, the City boss told BBC Sport that Liverpool’s propensity for late wins – such as their 2-1 victory over Aston Villa last time out – was down to: “Sometimes it is diving, sometimes it is this talent to score incredible goals in the last minute.”
Alisson gave his response after being questioned on Guardiola’s comments: “We think that Sadio is a top player,” he said, as per journalist David Lynch’s personal Twitter account.
“He is really, really important for our team and he showed this in our last game.”
Alisson dodges a question about Guardiola accusing Mane of diving: "We think that Sadio is a top player. He is really, really important for our team and he showed this in our last game. "
— David Lynch (@dmlynchlfc) November 4, 2019
OPINION
Honestly, it’s difficult to disagree with Guardiola’s assessment of the situation. Liverpool have had a couple of soft penalties given this season, while there is very little doubt that Mane did dive in the first half against Villa on Saturday. However, that is not why they are coming back to win late games. They’re doing so because they have a never-say-die attitude and they fight and try and create chances until the very last whistle. As Guardiola said, sometimes it’s down to incredible goals late on, which is what we saw against Villa. The Senegal international set up Andrew Robertson’s equaliser and then grabbed the winner himself. That wasn’t down to diving at all, that was down to him being a top player, as Alisson says. It’s no surprise that the goalkeeper didn’t really want to wade into this territory, and he dealt with the question well overall.
