Manchester City 0 – 2 Liverpool – The PL Postmortem
The atmosphere at the Etihad was intense and expectant before kick-off as these two domestic rivals looked to take control of their Super Sunday battle. Arne Slot became the first Premier League manager to achieve a winning double of his counterpart, which may have now solidified the Anfield giants place as the nations best footballing side.
Below is how the team lined up, with match details following.
The Starting Eleven
GK – Alisson Becker
RB – Trent Alexander Arnold
RCB – Ibrahima Konaté
LCB – Virgil van Dijk (c)
LB – Andy Robertson
CM – Alexis Mac Allister
ACM – Dominik Szoboszlai
CM – Ryan Gravenberch
RF – Mohamed Salah
CF – Luis Díaz
LF – Curtis Jones
Subs
Kostas Tsimikas – Andy Robertson (74 mins)
Wataru Endō – Curtis Jones (74 mins)
Cody Gakpo – Luis Díaz (79 mins)
Harvey Elliott – Mohamed Salah (90+1 mins)
Jarell Quansah – Trent Alexander Arnold (90 +2 mins)
Goals (Assisted by)
Manchester City 0 – 2 Liverpool
Mohamed Salah – (Dominik Szoboszlai) 14 mins
Manchester City 0 – 2 Liverpool
Dominik Szoboszlai – (Mohamed Salah) 37 mins
Important Match Stats
Possession
Manchester City 66% – 34% Liverpool
XG
Manchester City 0.65 – 0.71 Liverpool
Total Shots
Manchester City 16 – 8 Liverpool
Corner Kicks
Manchester City 7 – 5 Liverpool
Off Sides
Manchester City 2 – 4 Liverpool
Fouls
Manchester City 3 – 10 Liverpool
Goalkeeper Saves
Manchester City 2 – 5 Liverpool
First Half
The match began with the Reds setting out their stall and looking to limit the space for the reigning Premier League champions. Pep Guardiola had chosen to put an attacking lineup into play with the knowledge that out-scoring his adversary may represent his best chance of success. The early patterns of play immediately showed that the hosts would be retaining much of the possession of the ball, with much of their efforts ending in Jérémy Doku running at Trent Alexander Arnold and delivering very little.
It would be the Egyptian King, Mohamed Salah, who would offer the initial piece of brilliance as he ran through the City half before being crowded out by multiple adversaries. Liverpool would limit their counter press to key and significant areas of the press which allowed the combination of Lucho and Curtis Jones to win the corner which created the opening goal. Following some set piece work on Friday, the Hungarian skipper, Dominik Szoboszlai, was able to receive a low pass at the near post from Alexis Mac Allister before flicking his first time pass towards the penalty spot. The emerging presence of Salah was able to strike the ball cleanly and following a mild deflection, the shot ended in the back of the net and the score shifted to 0-1.
Omar Marmoush would level the game with a superbly taken goal across the well beaten Alisson Becker, however, that goal would be overruled due to an offside, one which was quickly confirmed by VAR. Without a desire to make an end to end battle between the two sides, Arne Slot laid out a plan to bed in and frustrate his opponents. Following some half chances for the home side, a breakaway would see Mohamed Salah latch onto a Trent Alexander Arnold pass before driving into the opposition penalty box. With a beautiful blend of composure and awareness to find the assist, a square ball to Dominik Szoboszlai allowed the Reds number eight to score with a clinical left footed strike.
The first half ended with the game in control of the visiting team and a 0-2 scoreline secured.
https://twitter.com/mobyhaque1/status/1893728462914896328?s=46&t=rxgukmqdoXc4muVFLSx2EQ
Second Half
Liverpool began the second half without any changes to their starting eleven. Due to some solid performances allowing Liverpool to dampen down the endeavor of Pep Guardiola’s men, nearly all of their attacking options stemmed from the wide men. Though Trent Alexander Arnold struggled to cope with the pace and direct nature of Jérémy Doku, Andy Robertson was able to defend with gusto whilst both Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk dominated in their central roles.
Curtis Jones had the ball in the net to take the score to 0-3, however, he was quickly deemed to be just offside after a fine counter attacking move. Omar Marmoush came close with a darting effort shortly afterwards whereas the attacking wide men of Liverpool, Salah and Luis Díaz, offered brilliant support with the latter having chances to score at the other end.
The final period of this game was a confident shut out by the Reds. The incoming substitute, Wataru Endō, was sensational in adding bite to their off ball defensive work and the encounter never looked out of the Merseyside giants control. The match ended with a score of 0-2 and jubilation for the traveling support who were in full song to signify their superiority.
Final Thoughts
This match was a crucial moment for Liverpool as it extended their lead at the top of the table to eleven points. With Arsenal needing to be a point better than Liverpool for every one of their remaining twelve games, this moment was significant for the belief that will now flood through Anfield, as well as the disheartening feeling that will spread through the red half of north London.
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Steven Smith’s Pre-match Score Prediction;
Manchester City 0 – 1 Liverpool
