In Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th match as a manager, Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-0 in a statement win that takes them within four points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Erling Haaland recovered from having a penalty saved to head in Matheus Nunes’ cross and score the opener just before the half-hour mark.
Virgil van Dijk then thought he had equalised but had his header ruled out due to Andrew Robertson being offside, then deflected Nico Gonzalez’s attempt past Giorgi Mamardashvili just before the break.
Arne Slot mentioned that as a defining period, stating: “We struggled a lot in the first half, so you’re hoping we can get to the end of the first half the 1-0 behind. Then, of course, there were five to 10 minutes that have been influential to the game.”
Despite Liverpool’s improvement after the break, Jeremy Doku capped off a sensational individual performance with an equally sublime goal to put the game out of sight.
Speaking about City’s performance, Ruben Dias said: “We live for games like this, and there’s no higher level than those kinds of levels.”
Manchester City ratings
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6/10: Was given very little to do but was equal to Dominik Szoboszlai’s strike when called upon.
Matheus Nunes – 8/10: Looked assured defensively and delivered a superb cross for the opener.
Ruben Dias – 9/10: Was solid throughout, doing particularly well to deflect Mohamed Salah’s shot wide and then slide in to stop Ryan Gravenberch’s pass from reaching him.
Josko Gvardiol – 7/10: Was largely solid in his defensive work but there were some occasions where he was sloppy on the ball.
Nico O’Reilly – 8/10: Showed intent from the off and teamed up brilliantly with Phil Foden to start the move for the opener. Did well against Salah all game, making an improvised tackle when it looked like the Egyptian might get past him. Missed the target with two late shots.
Bernardo Silva – 8/10: Wearing the captain’s armband, he looked happy to take responsibility on and off the ball. Was booked for a foul on Florian Wirtz.
Nico Gonzalez – 8/10: Cleaned up well for much of the game and scored City’s second with help from a deflection off Van Dijk. Was booked for cynically pulling Wirtz back and got just enough on Conor Bradley’s cross for it to go over the crossbar.
Phil Foden – 7/10: Was fearless on the ball, as best encapsulated by his lovely play with O’Reilly to start the move for the opener. Played another nice pass to the left-back late on.
Rayan Cherki – 6/10: Always looked to get on the ball but things didn’t quite come off for him at times, with one shot being deflected behind.
Erling Haaland – 7/10: Recovered from seeing his penalty saved to head in the opener. Won plenty of headers both up the pitch and in his own box.
Jeremy Doku – 10/10: Was simply unplayable and won the penalty that was saved. The Belgian fully deserved the sensational goal that he scored at an important time.
Substitutes
Savinho (Cherki, 53’) – 6/10: Brought plenty of energy off the bench and forced Curtis Jones into a foul that earned him a booking.
Omar Marmoush (74’) – N/A: Saw a shot blocked moments after his introduction and was pushed wide by a Haaland pass.
Liverpool ratings
Giorgi Mamardashvili – 6/10: Caught Doku to concede an early penalty but outfoxed Haaland to save it. He then tipped Doku’s shot wide but had no chance of stopping any of the goals.
Conor Bradley – 6/10: Was given a real tough task by Doku but remained persistent throughout, although he was booked for cynically bringing down the Belgian. Played a brilliant cross that Cody Gakpo couldn’t convert from.
Ibrahima Konate – 4/10: Tried to help Bradley but made things worse for the penalty incident, then got an unconvincing connection on Nunes’ cross that allowed Haaland to score.
Virgil van Dijk – 5/10: Thought he had scored an equaliser and made blocks before the break but then deflected Nico’s shot past Mamardashvili with a lazy attempt to block it.
Andrew Robertson – 4/10: Didn’t close down Nunes at all as he provided the cross for the opener, and was then offside for Van Dijk’s disallowed goal.
Ryan Gravenberch – 6/10: Committed early fouls as the Dutchman struggled to have his usual impact in the first half. Improved in the second half and was unlucky to see Dias cut out his ball to Salah.
Alexis Mac Allister – 5/10: He often looked a step behind City and was booked for tripping Doku, but the Argentine did stop a Doku ball from reaching Foden on the edge of the box.
Mohamed Salah – 6/10: There were times where he threatened to make things difficult for O’Reilly, but the main time the Egyptian really did that was when he won and delivered the corner for the disallowed goal. Dinked the ball wide from his one big chance.
Dominik Szoboszlai – 6/10: Pressed well at times and looked to make things happen, but had times where his teammates weren’t on the same wavelength. Hit a venomous shot that was saved and was booked for barging Foden late on.
Florian Wirtz – 4/10: Tried to make things happen and drew fouls, two of which saw a City player booked, but was overpowered too easily at times. Like Robertson, his attempt to close down Nunes for the opener was half-hearted.
Hugo Ekitike – 3/10: Was completely invisible for large periods and got pushed off the ball too easily by City’s centre-backs.
Substitutes
Milos Kerkez (Robertson, 56’) – 6/10: His attempted cross was deflected just too high for Van Dijk to get a convincing connection on it, and he made the header that sent Salah through.
Cody Gakpo (Ekitike, 56’) – 5/10: Worked hard but missed a golden opportunity shortly after coming on.
Curtis Jones (Mac Allister, 74’) – N/A: Booked for desperately pulling back Savinho after losing out to the Brazilian.
Federico Chiesa (Wirtz, 83’) – N/A: Wasn’t given much time but worked hard and tried to play Salah through.
Joe Gomez (Bradley, 83’) – N/A: Will likely be pleased that Doku was on the bench by the time he came on.
