Manchester City turned on the style to beat Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad in a result that could have a defining impact on the title race this season.
Jeremy Doku turned in a sensational performance against Liverpool and capped it with a brilliant goal
Manchester City delivered a statement win as they beat Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad to close the gap on Arsenal to four points at the top of the Premier League.
The Blues took advantage of the Gunners stumble at Sunderland on Saturday to thrash the defending champions and mark themselves out as the likely challengers in what is shaping up to be a two-horse title race.
Erling Haaland missed an early penalty but then scored a header to give City the lead. Nico Gonzalez’s deflected shot doubled the lead before the break and Jeremy Doku capped an excellent individual performance with a stunning goal to make it three.
Doku delivers
Conor Bradley was the toast of Anfield on Tuesday after pocketing Vinicius Jr in Liverpool’s win against Real Madrid but he found life an awful lot harder against Jeremy Doku at the Etihad.
Doku popped up on the right at times in the early stages of this game but quickly decided his best chance of success was on the left. Bradley was worried by the sight of the winger running at him and it was a major outlet for City.
It was a defensive mess that led to Doku getting it to win the penalty, but it only added to Bradley’s nerves and he was on his heels every time his opponent lined him up for a run.
Time and again, Doku burst passed the Northern Ireland international and into the box. City’s game plan became simple because Doku made it simple.
His performance deserved a moment and he delivered it with the spectacular third goal, cutting infield and sending a curling shot into the top corner. On the touchline Guardiola raised both hands in the air and started conducting the celebrations behind him.
That’s now seven goal involvements in 16 games this season for the 23-year-old and he looks to have gone to another level. Guardiola orchestrating the crowd suggests he agrees.
Haaland vs Van Dijk
Much is made of Anfield being the only Premier League ground where Haaland is yet to score but his record in general against Liverpool isn’t brilliant, having scored just once in four league fixtures against the Reds leading into yesterday.
When he missed the early penalty (more on which below) he might have felt that familiar pang of worry against Liverpool. But this is a Haaland who has gone to another level this season and he shrugged off that blow to finish brilliantly when he got another opportunity.
The pre-match debate had centred around the battle between Haaland and Virgil van Dijk and it’s certainly one of the heavyweight clashes in the league, but the Norwegian got his success by peeling off the back of Ibrahima Konate instead. It was intelligent play from the striker.
A bullet dodged?
There was plenty of crowing on Merseyside when Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz this summer, beating City to the signature of the German international, with the Blues pulling out as the fee for a 22-year-old who had never played outside the Bundesliga rose to nine figures.
“What a waste of money”, sang the Etihad as another Wirtz corner failed to beat the first man. It was a surprise he lasted 83 minutes before finally being withdrawn with cheers ringing in his ears.
This wasn’t a great day for Rayan Cherki either, but Wirtz’s struggles sum up Liverpool. He is failing to produce the goods on the ball and is too lightweight. He was easy for City’s defenders to knock off the ball.
Penalty pain
City have never had a brilliant record on penalties under Guardiola and although it’s hard to make the case that Haaland shouldn’t be taking them, he has now missed three of his last six for the club. His effort against Liverpool was poor and if Giorgi Mamardashvili guessed correctly, he was always likely to make the save.
This fixture has also been a frustrating one for City, who have missed four of their last five penalties against Liverpool in the Premier League, dating back to Riyad Mahrez smashing a late spot kick over the bar in front of the Anfield Road stand in October 2018.
Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan are the other guilty parties and it kind of sums up the way this game often goes for City.
Nunes celebrates
Haaland’s towering header to open the scoring was another masterful moment from a No. 9 who can do it all – apart from scoring every penalty he takes.
But as Haaland raced towards the north east corner of the stadium to celebrate, Matheus Nunes clenched his fists and marked the goal by roaring in delight to the north west corner.
Haaland will hog the headlines as usual but Nunes deserved plenty of credit for delivering a quite brilliant assist. His outswinging cross was perfectly placed over the head of Konate and to Haaland. It wasn’t just the cross either, it was the intelligence to dummy his first attempt, forcing Andy Robertson to back off and buying himself a yard of space.
It was another big moment for Nunes, who has locked down that right-back role at the moment and looks like a player growing in confidence.