Steve McManaman hailed one Liverpool player as an ‘absolute superstar’ after he played a crucial role in a famous win at Anfield on Wednesday night.
The Reds finally avenged a decade’s worth of agony at the hands of Real Madrid with a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo, although that doesn’t quite tell the whole story of the match.
Incredibly, both Kylian Mbappe and Mo Salah failed to score with penalties for their respective teams, with the Frenchman’s spot kick brilliantly saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Caoimhin Kelleher denies Kylian Mbappé from the spot!
@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/fr45wUF2Cj
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 27, 2024
Speaking on co-commentary for TNT Sports, McManaman declared that the Republic of Ireland international can no longer be regarded as a ‘number two’ goalkeeper at Liverpool due to how often he’s come up trumps for his team.
The former Reds winger said after the penalty save from Mbappe: “Kelleher is doing fantastic. Every time he is called upon, he stands up. He is an absolute superstar in his own right. He is not a number two. He is an equal number one. He is fantastic.”
TNT Sports shared a remarkable statistic tonight that, in his last four games for club and country in the past fortnight, Kelleher has saved three penalties, further cementing a reputation that he’d already forged in his involvement in the Carabao Cup over the past few seasons.
As McManaman says, it seems unfair to regard the 26-year-old as a second-choice goalkeeper, and at any other club in world football he’d be 100% assured of keeping his place in the long-term.
Alas, he’s competing with a certain Alisson Becker at Liverpool, and Arne Slot has declared that the Brazilian will go straight back into the starting XI once he’s recovered from injury.
The Reds boss might yet need to reassess that proclamation, given how Kelleher has been performing in recent weeks and how he stepped up for his team tonight, completing 93% of his passes and making three saves, including that stop from Mbappe (Sofascore).
Any chance we can alter the rules of football to allow for two goalkeepers to start?!
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