Alan Shearer has praised Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker for his fine display against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday afternoon. The Reds booked their spot in the final with a 3-2 victory over Pep Guardiola's side and will play either Chelsea or Crystal Palace for the cup next month.
Liverpool raced into a three goal lead at Wembley thanks to an Ibrahima Konate header and two from Sadio Mane before City managed to claw two goals back in the second half. After Bernardo Silva's late finish, the Reds needed a calm head between the sticks to see them through.
City goalkeeper Zack Steffen showed how not to manage a big occasion at Wembley while Alisson was the opposite and Shearer believes Jurgen Klopp choosing his first-choice stopper made all the difference at Wembley.
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Steffen laboured on the ball close to his own goal and Mane sensed an opportunity to close down the goalkeeper. The Liverpool number 10 did just that and his slide tackle ended up with the ball in the back of the net.
“Liverpool were certainly gifted one goal and I think the goalkeeper should have done better with the other two as well,” Shearer said to BBC Sport.
“Big decisions from Jurgen Klopp in terms of his team selection have helped win the game because there’s no doubt he played his number one goalkeeper. Manchester City didn’t and, ultimately, their goalkeeper has made mistakes which have cost them.
“Alisson in that second half, pulled off two very good saves – one, the one-on-one from Jesus, was superb and that’s what’s turned out to be the difference.”
