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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Ian Doyle

'They don't know how to lose' - national media on how relentless Liverpool demoralised Man City

Never in doubt. When the clock gets ticking towards the 90th minute, Liverpool get going.

Once again, Jurgen Klopp's European champions left it late to overturn a half-time deficit and earn a dramatic 2-1 win at Aston Villa on Saturday.

An 87th-minute equaliser from Andy Robertson was then followed by Sadio Mane's injury-time winner to keep the Reds six points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Writing in the Mail, Dominic King acknowledges this late win would have been a blow to Manchester City.

"At 86 minutes, Manchester City had whittled Liverpool's advantage down to three points ahead of next Sunday's showdown at Anfield," he scribes.

"Pep Guardiola would have travelled to Merseyside knowing victory would put his team top.

"Instead, the gap between the bitter rivals remains six points and, perhaps, Mane's header has demoralised City a little. 

"Each time they look like putting a hand on their shoulder, Liverpool stretch on again and shown they don't know when to stop."

Sam Wallace of the Telegraph picks up on the theme.

"This Liverpool team, these Liverpool players, this Liverpool era – it is not as if they have never before seized a victory when the odds were against them or time was running out," he writes.

Blood Red: 'If one team deserved to win it, its was us' - Jurgen Klopp

"There was Barcelona last season, as well as others along the same theme against Newcastle United and Tottenham, and even Arsenal at Anfield on Wednesday.

"That sort of mythology can build up in the minds of an opponent until they start to wonder if it might be inevitable.

"As Manchester City hunted down Southampton at the Etihad Stadium so this title race between two teams, who scarcely dare to drop a point, felt like it could be reaching a pivotal point as early as November."

Jonathan Northcroft of the Sunday Times believes he has seen something like this before.

"They might not like the comparison but the team Jurgen Klopp’s side are coming to resemble is none other than the Manchester United of Sir Alex Ferguson," he types.

Andy Robertson scores Liverpool's equaliser in the Premier League match at Aston Villa (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

"This Liverpool do not always fire, do not always dazzle, and there are days when they cannot bring their considerable talent to bear, but what they never seem to lose is their relentlessness, their commitment to throwing bodies forward and the ball out wide and then back into the box again.

"They go to the end and after surviving a remarkable midweek cup tie against Arsenal thanks to a 94th-minute goal, here was another fortune-shifting strike, at exactly the same point of stoppage time, to ransack three points."

Mark Critchley of the Independent agrees there is something relentless about this Liverpool team.

"There is 'grinding out results', then there is this," he says. "Dropping points and seeing their lead cut to three or even four points could have been a significant psychological blow, particularly on a day when Manchester City staged their own late comeback to win.

"Instead, ahead of a visit from the defending champions to Anfield next week, one that will have a significant say in where this league title is won and lost, Liverpool look like a team that simply does not know how to lose."

Finally, Andy Dunn of the Mirror isn't impressed with one aspect of Mane's game.

"Such is the eye-catching excellence of Mane with the ball at his feet, it is so easy to forget his aerial prowess even though there is a thick catalogue of evidence," he pens.

"This was a beauty to win a game that looked to be slipping away from Liverpool until Mane – who else? – sent over a late, deep, beautiful cross and Andrew Robertson headed an equaliser.

"But maybe it is time for Jurgen Klopp to have a word. Mane is on his way to trademarking the just-been-electrocuted move to the deck, his latest execution coming when Frederic Guilbert brushed his back.

"Really lovely guy, really wonderful footballer, but a diver."

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