Jeremy Doku was the star as Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad, but the win did not come without controversy.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring at the end of a great team move, shortly after having a penalty saved, Nico Gonzalez added a deflected second and Doku capped a brilliant individual display with the third. However, Virgil van Dijk had a headed ‘goal’ that would have made it 1-1 late in the first half ruled out when Andy Robertson was controversially adjudged to have been in an offside position and a VAR review did not overturn the initial on-pitch decision.
The result leaves City in second place at the November international break, four points off leaders Arsenal, with Liverpool eighth, a further four behind.
Jordan Campbell, Andy Jones and Michael Cox break down the action from the Etihad.
Is entertainment back?
There have been plenty of moans — many of them justified — about the quality of the football being played in this season’s Premier League.
A lot of long throws and set pieces, and an absence of dribbling and penetrative passing moves have meant an attritional season across the first 11 of the 38 matchdays.
But this game was more like it: technical football, the ball on the ground, played at a good tempo but not just frantic running for the sake of it. Pressing was not the main focus today in east Manchester.
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
City focused on getting players between the lines before threading passes through from defence. Their wide players, Doku and Rayan Cherki, had freedom to move inside or stay wide. Liverpool, meanwhile, have beefed-up their centre with three ‘proper’ midfielders in the engine room, and this has meant £100million summer signing Florian Wirtz has become more influential, drifting inside from the left and finding pockets of space. He got two opponents booked in the first half, as City looked scared of his dribbling.
OK, Haaland’s headed opener was an old-school cross and header, but it came at the end of a long, flowing passing move, the type we’ve seen little of this season. It featured every City outfielder. It featured patience, precision and a spot of individual brilliance. No complaints here.
Michael Cox
Should Van Dijk’s header have stood?
Liverpool thought that they had equalised when Van Dijk arrowed a header into the bottom corner from Mohamed Salah’s drilled cross. Having been on the wrong end of so many set-piece goals this season, it looked like the tables had turned — until a flag spoiled the champions’ celebrations.
As Van Dijk’s header sailed into the net, team-mate Robertson was standing in an offside position. Despite not being in the eyeline of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, he was adjudged to be interfering with play.
On X, the Premier League Match Centre account explained the decision like this: “The referee’s call of offside and no goal to Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Robertson in an offside position and deemed to be making an obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper.”
The use of the phrase “directly in front” will cause plenty of frustration for Liverpool, because Robertson was clearly not directly in front of Donnarumma. The Premier League rules state that a player will be penalised if he is:
Preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision
Challenging an opponent for the ball
Clearly attempting to play the ball, which is close when this action impacts on an opponent
Making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.
Robertson was not challenging for the ball or attempting to play it as he ducked to let it fly into City’s net. He was also not obstructing the opponent’s line of vision, as he was standing on the other side of the goalkeeper from where the header came in.
The last point is the bone of contention, but Donnarumma still dived for the ball, though he could not get to it because of the placement of the header.
A similar incident occurred in a game between City and Wolverhampton Wanderers last season when Bernardo Silva was in an offside position as John Stones sent a header past Jose Sa.
The decision was initially offside, but after a VAR review – with Chris Kavanagh also the referee in that game, oddly enough – it was given after Bernardo was deemed to have no impact on the goalkeeper.
It is difficult to see how that is different from the Robertson situation on Sunday. Yet one goal was given and the other wasn’t.
Andrew Jones
What made Doku so dangerous?
When the man characterised as having no end-product turns up with a basketful of it, then it’s going to be your day.
That is how it proved for City as Doku, often an enigma, put in such an electric display that it felt cruel for him to run at Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate any longer.
The Belgian is the best player in the world over 10 yards, according to City manager Pep Guardiola. He went some way to proving that in his first two seasons in England but this, year three, was when he had to make the step up and deliver the numbers that matched his dribbling skills.
His levels have still fluctuated over the past few months, but it was Doku who rounded goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili in the incident where City were awarded a penalty — though he should have squared it — and his curling finish from outside the box just past the hour mark killed the game as a contest.
He is now on three goals and four assists in all competitions for the season, but this was the level of a player who should scale greater heights over the months ahead.
Doku stepped up for City (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
Liverpool tried to contain him and often put two men against the 23-year-old, but he continually demoralised them, on this occasion picking the right option more often than not.
Jordan Campbell
What does this defeat mean for Liverpool?
After back-to-back confidence-boosting victories, this Liverpool performance was night and day from the dominant Champions League win over Real Madrid at Anfield in midweek. Head coach Arne Slot stuck with the team from Tuesday, but they lacked the intensity and aggression that had typified those defeats of Aston Villa and Madrid.
It began with City allowing centre-back Konate to have the ball, and both his distribution and the lack of hold-up play from those receiving passes never allowed the away side to gain any territory.
Salah and Wirtz both struggled to impact the game, and Hugo Ekitike was largely anonymous due to a lack of service. Liverpool’s midfield three also didn’t have the zip in and out of possession they showed in the previous two games.
This was the Etihad, one of their toughest fixtures all season, and Liverpool were going to have to suffer during periods of the game. But this performance fell way below the standards that have been set since Slot arrived in summer 2024.
The defending champions do not look like title challengers, and while it is still early in the season, it is difficult to see how they finish above Arsenal or City.
Andrew Jones
How good was City’s opening goal?
If neither Robertson nor Wirtz could remember to close down the cross for City’s opening goal, it was likely because they had been passed into submission.
When Haaland headed home the cross from Matheus Nunes, it meant all 10 City outfield players had touched the ball in a length-of-the-pitch move. Twenty passes led to that right-wing delivery, and the passage of play encapsulated how the home side dominated the first half, resisting any pressure Liverpool applied by somehow always having a man spare.
It was a more rudimentary route to goal in the end for their opener as, after gradually swapping passes with Bernardo and Rayan Cherki, Nunes was afforded plenty of time to deliver to the back post.
Konate looked favourite to win the ball, but got caught under it. Still, he actually managed to get first contact with the arriving cross, as it grazed the top of his head.
It did not influence Haaland’s attempt to score, though, as he towered above the Frenchman and was able to nod it into the far corner. The subtle deflection off Konate made his finish all the more impressive.
(Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
If it had been anyone else, it would be reasonable to suggest an element of fortune played its part, but this was the Norwegian’s 14th goal in just 11 Premier League games this season, the joint-most any player has managed in the competition’s 33-year history — equalling his own record from 2022-23.
Haaland’s brain may actually be so hardwired to the goal frame that it accounted for the deflection.
Jordan Campell
Redemption for Mamardashvili?
From zero to hero, Mamardashvili’s biggest moment of his short Liverpool career came at the Etihad this afternoon.
On 10 minutes, a terrible clearance from Konate hit Doku and left the Belgian one-on-one with the visiting ’keeper. The Georgia international was out of his goal quickly, as Doku tried to skip past him to make his shooting angle better.
Although his outstretched foot did not appear to make any contact with the City man, Mamardashvili’s knee did on the follow-through, and after a VAR review, a penalty was given.
(Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Despite being faced with the league’s most in-form striker in Haaland, Mamardashvili guessed the right way, diving to his left to make the save.
Any questions of potential encroachment were waved away with Mamardashvili’s foot shown to be on the line, and only part of a Liverpool player’s boot over the 18-yard line.
This is Mamardashvili’s speciality. Since the start of 2023-24, no goalkeeper has saved more penalties in Europe’s big five domestic leagues than his six.
The 25-year-old arrived from Spanish side Valencia in the summer — a year after a £25million deal for him was agreed — as the long-term successor to Alisson.
But after the Brazil international picked up a hamstring injury against Galatasaray at the end of September, Mamardashvili has been thrown in at the deep end. He has made some good saves, but also faced some questions during seven previous appearances since his debut.
After successive clean sheets against Villa and Madrid, this felt like a big moment for him – even with what came after.
Andrew Jones
What did Guardiola say?
City manager Guardiola told BBC Radio 5 Live after the match: “They are the champions of England. We performed really good. Second half was a little sloppy but I am really happy with that. The team played good, and sometimes you don’t play good and you find the goal. But we played really good anyway, and today I am so happy to celebrate it with my family, like old times. When they come (to a match), it is so special for me.
“From my experience, the season is so long. The teams that don’t give up will be there (at the end). Then maybe we will be champions, but we have to keep going.”
What did Slot say?
Speaking to Sky Sports, the game’s UK broadcaster, Liverpool head coach Slot said: “It’s been a very good start of the week with a very bad end of the week. City away is difficult for everyone. We won here last year because we scored a set piece and then had to defend really hard. Today, I don’t think it was ever going to be our game. We need to improve. I didn’t need this game to know this.
“Last season, when we were eight points clear, it never felt like we were done already (in terms of winning the title). The performance needs to be better but this week gave me a lot of positives to take into the games after the international break. In moments like this, you could only focus on the negatives, but there are lots of positives as well.”
On Van Dijk’s disallowed goal, Slot said: “It’s difficult for me to give my view, but it’s obvious that the wrong decision has been made. He (Robertson) didn’t interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do. The same referee allowed the same type of goal for City against Wolves last season.”
What next for City?
Saturday, November 22: Newcastle (Away), Premier League, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET
What next for Liverpool?
Saturday, November 22: Nottingham Forest (Home), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET