Leroy Sane evolves from ‘frightened bird’ to clip Liverpool’s wings as Man City win title race showdown

Pep Guardiola once described Leroy Sane as a frightened bird.

Last night he clipped high-flying Liverpool’s wings.

The German’s 72nd-minute winner ended the Premier League leaders’ unbeaten start and ensured Man City kept the title race alive by cutting the lead at the top to just four points.

Sane has endured a tempestuous relationship with Guardiola. Dropped at the start of the season over concerns about his focus, he can have his manager – metaphorically – pulling his hair out one minute, or literally jumping for joy the next.

But Guardiola’s belief in the winger is beyond question, with City currently in negotiations to tie him down to a new long-term contract.

In Pictures | Manchester City vs Liverpool | 03/01/18

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“He has a special quality to do something unique around the world, with his speed, his aggressiveness,” said Guardiola after City’s 2-1 win against Liverpool. “But in the simple things, he loses the ball. Against these kind of teams, when you lose the simple balls, always they kill you.

“Mistakes are part of the game so I am always working with Leroy. We are working a lot with Leroy every single day to encourage, to try to help him because he is special.”

Despite being voted last season’s PFA Young Player of the Year, Sane has faced a battle to hold down a starting place in the face of competition from City’s record signing Riyad Mahrez.

He was overlooked for key games against Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United earlier this season – but Guardiola’s faith was repaid after naming him ahead of Mahrez last night.

Sane’s strike came after Roberto Firmino had equalised Sergio Aguero’s opening goal in the top of the table clash.

Guardiola – who had insisted beforehand that City’s title defence would not be over if they’d suffered defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s side – later revealed his true feelings about the significance of the win.

“We reduced the gap,” he said. “It’s still four points, but it is enough points to be calm.

“It is a good moment to congratulate and say thank you to these incredible players. Today they showed how good they are. They played against an incredible team.

“It was a final for us because lose and it was almost over. Now it is tight again. Now rest and relax.”

Bernardo Silva echoed his manager’s thoughts.

“We knew that if we lost it would almost be over because 10 points is a lot,” he said. “Now four points we believe it is possible, knowing the Premier League is a very tough competition.

“The pressure was a little bit more onto us. We are happy with that, it is good. We are used to that kind of pressure.

“Happily the performance from everyone was good and we got three very important points against a fantastic team.”

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