Sadio Mane felt Liverpool were worthy winners as his second-half brace earned a 2-0 victory over Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

The Senegal international struck twice in four minutes after the break at Stamford Bridge – and had also been fouled in the incident that saw Andreas Christensen sent off on 44 minutes – to give the Reds maximum points in the Premier League.

Post-match, Mane reflected on the details of the win with Sky Sports and offered a glowing assessment of the 45-minute debut for new signing Thiago Alcantara.

Mane was on fire and could have earned a hat trick but obviously he would have to do with two.

“Obviously it was a top game, to be honest. It was a top game. Especially in the first half, we found it very difficult to create chances and I think when they got the red card, it made it easier. The second half, we created many chances and finally we scored two goals. I think today we deserved to win,” he said.

Mane’s great burst of energy caused problems for the Blues. A long searching ball from captain Jordan Henderson aimed for the striker created panic in the Chelsea defence.

Andreas Christensen had no option but to deny Mane a scoring chance and the defender was sent off after a VAR review.

“Yeah, it was a great ball from him. A great player. I know him, I know at that moment the only choice he has to do is to put the ball in and he is very good at it. So, I try to make the runs and he put the ball in front of me. When he made a foul I knew it was a red card, I even told him: ‘My friend, it’s a red card.’ After, the referee gave him a red card; so, lucky for us.”

Mane opened his account for the 2020/21 season with a brilliant headed goal from Roberto Firmino’s cross.

He struck again after stealing the ball from Kepa. Mane seemed to raise his arms in anger when he gave away the ball but quickly made ground to close down the keeper for the second goal.

“Yeah, sure, these kinds of things are always what we try on the training pitch. When he got the ball, I knew it will be difficult for him to have an option, the only choice was to shoot it.

“So I was in front of him and he tried to pass it. Unluckily for him, he made a mistake. Lucky for me and I scored a second goal for my team.”

Mane was full of praise for Debutant Thiago who came on played the last 45 minutes

“Not only me, all the world knows what he is capable of doing. He is one of the best players in the world, so we are lucky to have Thiago in our team. And I think today he showed that he is a great player,” Mane concludes.