Arne Slot heaped praise on Ibrahima Konate after Liverpool beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light to close the gap on the Premier League top five
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, acknowledges the fans after the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool at Stadium of Light on February 11, 2026 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Arne Slot acknowledges the travelling Liverpool fans after the Premier League win at Sunderland(Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
View Image
Arne Slot reserved praise for Ibrahima Konate after Liverpool secured a hard-fought 1-0 win at Sunderland to close the gap on the Champions League qualification spots. The centre-back handled the powerful Brian Brobbey superbly all evening as Virgil van Dijk's second-half header gave the visitors a win that ended the Black Cats' unbeaten record at the Stadium of Light this season.
And speaking after the game, the Liverpool head coach said he was impressed by Konate's performance but not surprised given the France international's quality, insisting the defender has been unfortunate with how some mistakes have been punished this term.
“Impressed but not surprised," Slot said. “He’s an example, almost of our season, he’s been so unlucky. He’s played games where he’s been so good for 89 minutes and then one moment ruins our game, his game.
Author avatar
Author avatar
"It’s not always about him but a few times that has happened and then everyone is focused on his mistake.
"But footballers make mistakes and not always the ball goes in. I was just asked about the last 10 minutes and I said the good thing was we didn’t concede a chance.
"Against Manchester City we didn’t concede a chance after the first minute until the 84th minute, then we let one in. So it was good to hardly concede a chance and Ibou was a big part of that, together with Virgil.
"But I liked the mentality of the whole team. I was pleased to see how we defended. Ibou played a great game against Brobbey, who is always difficult to play against."
Slot added: "We had the biggest chance in extra time with Mo Salah. But I am pleased with how we defended, there were a few times we had to throw bodies in front of the ball.
"Wataru Endo, I pick him out because he had an injury and stayed on, challenged for other duels. "That mentality, I saw it through the whole team. Ibou played a great game, Mo was working a lot, Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) made very important tackles.
"It was also really helpful that our fans were so loud, this stadium is known for home fans but the away fans were loud, especially the last 20 minutes when the team needed them.
"Maybe they thought it had gone wrong so many times in the final part of (games) and maybe now it is up to us to help the team. That worked out really well.
"I hope every time we have the lead, away or at home, the fans can be so supportive."
*Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source.Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.*