Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher reserve special praise for Ibrahima Konate after Liverpool’s win at Inter Milan

Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher showered Ibrahima Konate with praise in the wake of Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Inter Milan and said the defender was unfortunate to miss out on the man-of-the-match award to Virgil van Dijk.

The heavyweight Champions League last-16 first leg had looked to be heading for a goalless draw at the San Siro, but a pair of late goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah put Liverpool in the driving seat ahead of part two on Merseyside.

Hosts Inter had chances to break the deadlock before Firmino’s glancing 75th-minute header, with Hakan Calhanoglu striking against the crossbar and Edin Dzeko having a goal disallowed for offside.

Van Dijk, wearing the captain’s armband in Jordan Henderson’s absence, put in a typically assured performance at the heart of Liverpool’s defence and produced a crucial challenge to deny Dzeko in the first half.

The Netherlands international was later named man of the match, but CBS Sports pundits Henry and Carragher both felt his centre-back partner was more deserving of the prize.

Reflecting on Salah’s 83rd-minute strike, ex-Arsenal striker Henry said: ‘His awareness, he knew that the ball was going to come to him and he made sure the ball was going to come to him because Konate was about to unleash it.

‘I don’t know what he said to him, but Konate left it!

‘And by the way, what a game from Konate. He was absolutely outstanding tonight.’

Asked whether he was surprised Van Dijk had been named man of the match, Henry replied: ‘Yeah, I thought Konate was man of the match for me.’

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Reds legend Carragher said he was impressed with the character Konate displayed given