Liverpool 4 Cardiff City 1: Mane at the double to blow Bluebirds away
Liverpool opened up a three-point lead at the Premier League summit with no other team in the top five in action until later this weekend.
Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League as Sadio Mane scored twice in a routine 4-1 win over Cardiff City.
Mohamed Salah gave the Reds an early lead, moving on to seven goals for the season following his midweek brace against Red Star Belgrade.
Cardiff showed a touch more ambition after half-time, although Mane finished emphatically in the 65th minute before Callum Paterson became the first visiting player to score at Anfield in the Premier League since February.
Xherdan Shaqiri settled any nerves by crowning a lively cameo with a crisp 84th-minute finish and Mane added further gloss, matching Salah's haul of seven for the season and putting Jurgen Klopp's unbeaten side three points clear of champions Manchester City, who take on Tottenham on Monday.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression
‘England have the players to win the World Cup – it’ll be tough for Thomas Tuchel to do a bad job, with the squad he has at his disposal’ Former Three Lions winger backs new boss after gentle qualifying draw