Manchester City crushed rivals Liverpool 3-0 in a high-stakes Premier League clash on Sunday, with Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku scoring to seal a win that could prove pivotal in the title race.
The game was City boss Pep Guardiola's 1,000th as a manager and his team marked the milestone with a statement victory that saw them climb to second in the table on 22 points after 11 games, four adrift of leaders Arsenal. Holders Liverpool tumbled to eighth on 18 points.
City were sharp from the outset and Haaland rose high over Ibrahima Konate to head home Matheus Nunes' whipped cross in the 29th minute for his 99th league goal for the club. The goal made amends for the Norwegian missing a penalty early in the game, and Haaland karate-kicked the corner flag in celebration.
Gonzalez doubled their lead seconds before halftime -- when with fans screaming "shoot!" he did -- his effort from distance taking a deflection off Virgil van Dijk's leg to leave goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili wrong-footed.
Doku put the game out of reach with his first league goal since January when Nico O'Reilly found him on the edge of the box. He shifted the ball onto his other foot and then whipped a blistering shot from just outside the box into the far corner in the 63rd minute.
"My players gave me a good present with this performance against the champions. We had to perform good and many good things happened, they all performed to the highest level," Guardiola said.
'THERE IS NO HIGHER LEVEL'
City defender Ruben Dias said he was "very happy" for the manager. "We live for games like this," Dias said. "There is no higher level than this kind of level. Everyone did a great game."
City's win was their first over Liverpool since April 1, 2023, ending a run of four games without a victory.
Haaland had an early penalty saved by Mamardashvili who guessed the right way, the fourth penalty City have missed in their last five against Liverpool in the Premier League. The penalty was awarded after Doku appeared to get caught by the Liverpool keeper.
Premier League top scorer Haaland bagged his 14th goal of the campaign - the second-most of any player through the first 11 games of a season, behind only Haaland himself, who had 17 in 2022-23. He also has 28 goals in 18 games for club and country.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk briefly celebrated what he thought was a goal in the first half but it was ruled out for offside. On review, the VAR deemed that Andy Robertson, who ducked as the ball was going in the net, made "an obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper," and was therefore offside, the Premier League Match Centre said.
"In football the officials are deciding the key decisions and we have to deal with it on the pitch. There is no point discussing this from my point of view," Van Dijk told Sky Sports. "The reality is that we lost 3-0 and that is a big blow.
"It's about finding consistency and carrying on. Now we go to our countries (for the upcoming international break), stay fit and be ready for a big run after. We are not going to give up whatsoever. We are in November and we are ready for a long season and a big fight."
City had six shots on target to just one for Liverpool, who had arrived at Etihad Stadium riding momentum after victories over Aston Villa and Real Madrid had ended a dreadful stretch of six losses in seven games across all competitions.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
