Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool – Manchester City ran out easy winners against newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium with a convincing win by 4 goals to 0.
First half:
It was the newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool who had the better of the opening stages of the game when they conjured up the first big opportunity when Egyptian winger Mohammed Salah’s shot come back off the post with Sadio Mane also failing to turn in the reboundthanks to a heavy touch as champions Liverpool showed no signs of slacking off in the early going at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite Liverpool having the better of the opening stages of the game, the game took a turn when hosts Manchester Citywere awarded a penalty in the 24th minute when Liverpool defender Joe Gomez bought down former Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling in a clumsy challenge which allowed referee Anthony Taylor to point to the spot and award Manchester City a penalty which the Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne stepped up and made no mistake sending Liverpool keeper Alisson the wrong way to put the hosts in front.
Manchester City then took control of the game from their and added a second goal just 10 minutes later when former Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling scored against Liverpool in the Premier League for the first time and made it 2-0 toCity to put the hosts in a good position at the Etihad against the newly crowned Premier League champions who looked all over the place at the back.
Manchester City completed a dominant first half display when in form City youngster Phil Foden played a clever one two with Kevin De Bruyne which then allowed Foden go one on one with the goalkeeper and finish past Alisson and complete a wonderful first half display for City who were running riot on a usual flawless Liverpool defence.
Second half:
Manchester City continued to dominate the second half whilst trying to push on for more goals and they got their reward in the 66th minute when Raheem Sterling’s shot that looked to be going wide was accidentally turned in to his own net by Liverpool substitution Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to put Manchester City 4-0 to continue a dominant and clinical City performance.
Manchester City saw the game out after going 4-0 up and they even thought they added a 5th goal right at the end of the game when substitute Riyad Mahrez managed to squeeze in a shot at the near post, however, a VAR check on the goal showed that the ball unfortunately was touched by Phil Foden’s arm as the City youngster fell to the floor which VAR then intervened and ruled the goal out as Manchester City had to settle for just a 4-0 win over the newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool who had chances but didn’t seem to have the usual 100% commitment in their game.
Full time
Man of the match:
Kevin De Bruyne – The Manchester City midfielder might well be the best on the planet at this moment in time and this performance was another stellar one as De Bruyne ran the show at the Etihad by putting through defence splitting passes all game and playing with a confidence only the best defence can.
Fascinating facts:
This was the first time Liverpool have been losing by 3 or more goals at half time in a Premier League game since the final day of the 2014/2015 season when they were 5-0 down away at Stoke City.
This was Raheem Sterling’s first Premier League goal against Liverpool in his ninth appearance against his former club since leaving in the summer of 2015.
Liverpool have now only won 2 out of their last 20 Premier League visits away to both Manchester clubs.
This was the first time that Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has ever conceded 4 goals in a game while playing for Liverpool.
Manchester City now haven’t conceded a home Premier League goal in their last 4 matches with this being the first time this has happened since 2015.
This was the first time Liverpool defender Joe Gomez has been on the losing side in a Premier League game since January 22nd 2018 when Liverpool were beaten 1-0 by Swansea City.
This was Liverpool’s heaviest Premier League defeat since September 9th 2017 which was also away at Manchester City when the Reds were beaten 5-0.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain becomes the first player to score an own goal in a Premier League game against Manchester City since January 2019 which was Wolves defender Conor Coady.
Talking points:
Newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool thrashed by former champions Manchester City – In the opening 20 minutes of this game it looked as though Liverpool were showing no signs of slacking despite being the newly crowned Premier League winners, however, once City scored the opening goal it was one way traffic from there in favour of the hosts who ran out easy 4-0 winners while playing Liverpool off the park.
Phil Foden once again shows he is a true talent – Phil Foden has now scored 4 goals despite only starting 2 games since the Premier League returned, impressive considering Foden only ever having 1 Premier League career goal to his name before that. Phil Foden put in yet another impressive performance and continues to have an effect on games every time he plays for Manchester City and the 20 year old could well be the perfect replacement for David Silva when he leaves at the end of the season.
Is there a better midfielder in the world right now than Kevin De Bruyne? Kevin De Bruyne ran the show once again in this match with another stellar midfield display as Liverpool simply couldn’t live with De Bruyne’s constant defence splitting passes that only the best can pull off, the Belgian midfielder also bagged his 17th assist of the season putting him just 3 behind Thierry Henry’s record of 20 in a Premier League season.
Liverpool already having the title won definitely made them slack off once the first goal went in – Usually when Manchester City and Liverpool face each other, we get a high quality game from two very good teams, however with Liverpool already having the Premier League title in the bag, this one felt much less intense from the away side especially after Manchester City took the lead, the Reds were making uncharacteristic defensive errors all game and never at all looked their usual spirited selves at the Etihad Stadium which made what is usual a great game much less interesting.
Sam’s match reports 