Sadio Mane arrived at Stamford Bridge without a goal in his previous nine starts, the longest scoring drought of his Liverpool career.
Had referee Anthony Taylor taken a dimmer view of his first minute challenge on Cesar Azpilicueta, his goalless streak might have extended to 10 matches within a minute of kick-off.
As it was, eight minutes later Mane’s run without a goal drew to a close. He seized upon a mistake by Trevoh Chalobah, dribbled past international teammate Edouard Mendy and fired the ball home.
It might have been the first goal Liverpool’s number 10 has scored since the 4-0 win over Arsenal in November, but it certainly wasn’t the first time he has broken the deadlock this season.
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Indeed, Mane set the Reds on the road to victory in that match against the Gunners, just as he had in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace and in the 5-0 rout at Vicarage Road too.
The Senegalese international also opened the scoring against Manchester City at Anfield in October, though as with the match at Chelsea that ended in a 2-2 draw.
There aren’t many ways in which any striker can top the efforts of Mohamed Salah, but Mane has the edge when it comes to getting the all-important opening goal of a game.
And the value of such strikes should never be underestimated. On average, the team which scores first wins 70 percent of the time, and in Mane’s time at the club, Liverpool’s record stands at 80 percent.
When it comes to bagging the opener, the former Southampton man has few equals as was revealed in Garth Crooks’ latest Team of The Week.
“Since the start of his first season with Liverpool (2016-17), only Harry Kane (40) has scored the opening goal in more different Premier League games than Sadio Mane (37)," Crooks wrote.
He endeared himself to his new club in his debut campaign with six opening goals, a sextet which included strikes both home and away against Everton.
Mane only scored first four times the following season, Salah’s first at the club, but Liverpool won every time and he settled their 1-0 victory over Palace.
In 2018/19, Liverpool’s left and right forwards were tied with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero for opening goals, with nine apiece.
As the Argentine scored first in City’s 2-1 win over the Reds – a match in which Mane was denied the opener by just 11mm – it’s unfortunate Mane did not beat Aguero 10-8 in the first goals match up.
From Liverpool’s title winning season onwards, Mane has scored the joint-most openers in the division, alongside former Red Danny Ings.
Mane scored many vital goals as Liverpool won their 19th league title, though perhaps his most important was an injury time winner at Villa Park, which was not the first goal of the game. He did break the deadlock seven times in that monumental campaign though.
2020/21 wasn’t a brilliant season from Mane’s perspective, but he still netted the opener six times, a total only four players in the Premier League (one of whom was Salah) topped.
And so to this season. For all that Salah is the Golden Boot leader and favourite to win the Player of The Year awards, he has only scored the opening goal twice in the league, and one of them – against Aston Villa – came from the penalty spot.
The only player ahead of Mane in the standings is reported Liverpool target Raphinha, and then only by a single goal.
As he is eight goals behind Salah, there’s little chance of Mane winning the Golden Boot this season.
But he might score the most opening goals in the Premier League which in some ways is arguably worth more.
