Sadio Mane says Liverpool deserved to beat Leicester in Saturday’s Premier League victory, during which the forward won a late penalty after scoring the opener.
Mane fell under a challenge from Leicester’s Marc Albrighton to win a 95th minute spot-kick for the home side, with James Milner converting from 12 yards to maintain the club’s 100 per cent start to the campaign.
The forward had put the Reds ahead just before the break, and believes his side deserved all three points from the difficult challenge against a quality Leicester outfit.
“At the end of the day, the most important thing is the three points, it doesn't matter how tired we are,” Mane told the club’s website.
“I think it would have been so important for us to keep managing the game, but sometimes it's not easy because Leicester is a very, very good team and caused us many problems.
“They equalised the game and that's why in football you never give up, that's what we try to do as a team. To be honest, we just have to say we deserved to win this game.”
The victory extended Liverpool’s winning run to 17 Premier League games, and came of the back of a draining midweek Champions League encounter against RB Salzburg, which put them a point behind Napoli in Group E after two games.
Mane also scored the opener in that game as Jurgen Klopp’s side ran out 4-3 winners against the Austrian outfit, with the forward explaining that difficult challenges both domestically and in Europe were expected before the season began.
The victory over Brendan Rodgers’ side made it eight league wins from eight this season for Liverpool, with the Senegal forward the club’s top scorer with five league goals.
The Reds moved 10 points clear of their opponents, and are eight points clear of champions Manchester City, with the latest result a hard-earned victory against their former manager.
“To be honest, I think it was a really, really tough game,” added Mane. “We knew that before and expected it.
“We played the Champions League [on Wednesday] and now we carry on with this intense game. But it's normal, it's the Premier League and we have to expect it all the time."