Liverpool suffered a 4-1 defeat away at Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Referee: Simon Hooper
Manchester City came from behind to beat Liverpool 4-1 at the Etihad to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to five points.
City made it six wins from our last seven Premier League matches with a 4-1 comeback win over Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side were caught early on the break and fell behind when Mohamed Salah scored, but Julian Alvarez equalized before a relentless second-half attack.
Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish all found the back of the net in the second half as Jurgen Klopp struck a limp figure on the touchline while witnessing a truly ominous defensive display.
Most fans could have predicted that Man City would enjoy the lion’s share of possession, while Liverpool dug deep and tried to score on the break, and the first half followed the script in that direction.
With challenges flying left, right and centre, Riyad Mahrez sent a free kick wide of the bar in the 15th minute and the Algerian missed it two minutes later.
A huge gap between City’s centre-backs exposed Diogo Jota, who stayed inside to receive Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ball over the top, then held off Manuel Akanji and Salah pounced on the loose ball to fire into the corner .
The champions were not short of chances as they desperately tried to get back into the game, Grealish proving to be the hero at both ends of the pitch to deny Liverpool a second before erasing their lead.
Just moments after thwarting a Reds counter-attack with a crucial interception to stop Salah setting up Diogo Jota for a touch, Grealish slotted past Alvarez to complete a brilliant pass from yards out. The 27th minute.
The quality of play on the ball from both sides was a sight to behold, but as tempers flared, controversy quickly took center stage as Rodri survived a second yellow card in the 35th minute for bringing down Cody Gakpo at pause.
Referee Simon Hooper was immediately mobbed by a sea of red shirts – whose protests were led by angry captain Jordan Henderson – but Rodri escaped further punishment, much to the chagrin of the away supporters.
Trent Alexander-Arnold also bit compatriot Grealish before the half-time whistle – to which the City fans responded by booing Hooper – but it was just 52 seconds into the second half before the home fans were smiling again. .
Liverpool, immediately cold in defence, were undone by a long ball played to Mahrez and in a carbon copy of their equaliser, the Algerian’s ball beat Alisson Becker out wide to find De Bruyne to exploit.
Having learned nothing from the odd performance in their own half, Liverpool’s rise was further pronounced in the 53rd minute when Alexander-Arnold blocked Alvarez’s effort but the rebound fell to Gundogan’s close-range effort.
Desperate times called for desperate measures for Klopp, who made four changes to try to quell City’s relentless attacks, but the hosts caused more misery for the unassuming German in the 74th minute.
Playmakers De Bruyne and Grealish linked up well down the left, the former cutting in for his England counterpart to get away from Alexander-Arnold and calmly find the bottom corner.
The visitors quickly emptied as City kept quiet on their way to victory – a victory that takes them five points clear of Arsenal before the Gunners meet Leeds United – and they now prepare for next Saturday’s trip to Southampton.
Meanwhile, Liverpool – who have now lost three in a row – remain sixth, level on points with Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion, and have just over 72 hours to recover before they travel to Chelsea on Tuesday.
Lineups:
Man. City:
Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo (Bernardo 82), Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Grealish (Palmer 88), Alvarez
Unused substitutes : Ortega Moreno, Walker, Phillips, Laporte, Bernardo, Gomez, Perrone, Lewis
Liverpool :
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson (Tsimikas 67), Fabinho, Henderson, Elliott (Oxlade-Chamberlain 67), Jota (Firmino 67), Salah (Nunez 67), Gakpo (Milner 82)
Unused substitutes : Kelleher, Gomez, Arthur, Matip
Scorers:
Bookings:
Man of the Match : Jack Grealish