Simon Mignolet: “We Fought Well, Showed Character”

Lots of thoughts floating around concerning Saturday’s match against Leicester. it had everyone a football fan could ask for - exciting goals, really dumb referee decisions, dramatic saves, and signature dives. The only downside was watching a team that one loves commit those mistakes, the heart stopping feeling of “oh here we go again.” Liverpool, thankfully, eventually came out on top, thanks in no small part to Simon Mignolet’s efforts in goal.

"[It's a] tough away trip always, especially for us, [so] I think today's result is really important going forward," Mignolet told liverpoolfc.com following the match on Saturday.

"It was all about getting back to winning ways and we did that, and I think also the manner we did it [was important].

"It wasn't easy, we fought well, showed character throughout the game to see it out and I think that's a big step forward.

The performance was really good, we had to fight for it, we had to win our duels, we had to be tough. And we did. Like I said, that's a major thing we can take forward."

Some may have flashbacks hearing that the squad “showed character” during the match, but Liverpool’s ability to fight back and maintain their lead was no small feat. Biggest thanks are maybe owed to Mignolet for that, as it was his save of Jamie Vardy’s penalty that kept the Foxes from going level with Liverpool. Our Belgian ‘keeper went on to give praise to another member of the squad whose free kick helped immensely to keep Liverpool ahead - Philippe Coutinho.

"He can always produce some magic,” Mignolet added. "I was right behind the free-kick and the moment it left his boot I knew it was going to go in.

"He does that a lot in training and luckily it paid off again today."

Mignolet may be maligned by many fans, he deserves a lot of credit towards the win against Leicester, possibly even ahead of Coutinho. Many players were fantastic in that wild ride of a match, but Mignolet’s saves ensured it didn’t run the other way.