It was the sheer nonchalance of it. The casual ease with which Sadio Mane guaranteed another lap of the title race. He won this match as if it were a training ground exercise, not a potential championship decider. He scored his header as if it was the last play of a Friday five-a-side, not a goal that keeps Liverpool in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple.
There were 65 minutes gone, and the scores were level. Still plenty of time, but a lot at stake. Liverpool’s domestic league campaign was riding on what unfolded here. Already three points behind Manchester City they could not afford to drop two more.