MANCHESTER CITY 3 – 0 LIVERPOOL
Manchester City: Haaland 29’, Gonzalez 45+3’, Doku 63’
Pre-Match
It’s okay to be nervous. It’s okay to be skeptical. It’s okay to be mildly delusional, even. Optimistic. Hopeful. All of those emotions are
valid when faced with the sportswashed behemoth that is Manchester City. This is what I’m telling myself as we stare at the empty seats in the Etihad and the lads warm up for the away leg what is usually a title decider. The lineup is unchanged from the win against Real Madrid earlier this week, and Alexander Isak returns to the bench, though will be unlikely to see many minutes as he still recovers from a groin injury. Liverpool are chasing the momentum of the two well earned wins of the last week, and City are looking slightly more vulnerable than usual, so that cocktail of emotions can come straight up or on the rocks.
First Half
And here we go. Manchester take control early on and Liverpool are on the chase. The Reds started today in 6th place after the Saturday results, with City taking over third place, and a good result here would just do wonders ahead of another international break before the busy winter fixtures. There has just been a lot of moving the ball around players in these opening minutes with less focus on getting forward just yet – unfortunately it is City moving the ball around Liverpool players. Liverpool get a chance in the 7th minute as Salah picks up a ball and goes forward, although a bit slower than probably was prudent, and his effort is batted wide by Ruben Dias and the City keeper. It’s just encouraging to see Salah get in front of the goal, a place he hasn’t been in a while. A moment of madness from Konate allows Doku into a space where Mamardasvili has to make a save, but he slides into Doku by mistake. The first penalty check of the match is performed and the foul is confirmed, City are awarded a penalty, and our new goalkeeper is really tested for the first time. Haaland steps up to the spot, AND IS DENIED! VAR steps in once again to check if the Georgian left the line early but he did not and play resumes with a sigh of relief. All this in the first fifteen minutes.
Liverpool have picked up some urgency since the play has moved on, but so too have City, and they get another chance at goal through a sloppy pass from Szoboszlai in the box, but the shot goes high and they receive a corner that doesn’t go anywhere. There’s a brief pause after Nico O’Reilly appears injured and has to come off and back on again, and the focus dips a little bit, allowing City to regain control. The hosts pick up a counter attack and have another good effort through Doku getting forward, but Mamardashvili gets a hand on it, sending the ball outside. Possession and play has evened out since the twenty minute mark, though City are the more able side to get in front of goal, a disappointing development. It doesn’t take much after that for Liverpool to concede as Matheus Nunez crosses towards Haaland and the giant robot sends a gentle little header into the net, despite Konate’s effort to save it.
The Reds go on the counter as soon as possible, getting close to goal once again but City is there to thwart any progress and play moves back to the midfield. The ball is now firmly in City’s possession and it feels a little like we’re failing at keep away as they, well, keep it away from us. Liverpool finally get a little bit of space to move the ball, but are still thwarted more effectively from moving very far. Szoboszlai switches the play towards Salah and while the Egyptian goes 1v1 with O’Reilly, he eventually sends it out for a corner kick, hoping for a bit of advantage there. Salah takes the corner, it slips in silkily and VAN DIJK HEADS IT IN! The joy is cut short though as the flag is down due to Andy Robertson stepping offside, and the goal is ruled out.
There is a lovely bit of play as Liverpool get forward and Wirtz tries to make something happen through Ekitike and Mac Allister, but City is once again there. It’s great to see the Reds responding though and trying their luck after the disappointment of the offside goal, as we only have around 5 minutes left in the half. Just kidding, there are 7 added minutes to the half thanks to the various VAR checks, so we can keep the pressure on and hopefully find that equalizer. Soaked to the bone through the rain, City win another corner kick and Virgil looks to be the one man defense but it only goes so far as City find a second goal off of the captain as he stands in front of goal.
Second Half
The rain is pouring down as we come back for the second half, with no changes made for either side, as the hosts get the half started. It’s pretty difficult to see why or how we’ve allowed the match to get this point, despite City having near full control this far. The second goal definitely took some wind out of our sails, although there have been some shapeshifting to start this half with Wirtz appearing to move into a more false nine position to hopefully get some more space for our forwards to do their work. There’s a gorgeous ball from Gravenberch to release Salah in front of Ruben Diaz but Donnarumma comes out and causes a bit of panic where it would’ve been great if Mo had just gone down. The Reds eventually win a free kick through the mess but City defend it well to get into the counter, but the rain allows Conor Bradley to slip into someone and give away a free kick.
Arne Slot makes his first changes early on, taking off Robbo and Hugo Ekitike in favor of Milos Kerkez and Cody Gakpo, and there was maybe a groan from the crowd. Liverpool have earned a free kick that the new players join, but City unfortunately, say it with me, defend it well. There is another corner for the Reds and at least another tall player out there, but the effort goes right into a Blue head and is cleared easily. Liverpool are able to get back into the final third and there is some finally refreshing movement of the ball with a pass from Salah to Bradley to Gakpo, and Cody’s effort goes over. We are once again offside and the forward momentum is stalled as City take forever to take their goal kick.
For all this work to have done, Liverpool don’t have a shot on goal, and Manchester City make it 3 from Jeremy Doku outside the box in the 62nd minute. Take us home, we’re cooked. Konate does not do enough to stop Doku from getting into a good space, and unfortunately we are punished for it. How do we come back from this? Even the comfort of being current champions is small and cold right now. We are not playing like champions, letting City run roughshod over us.
Liverpool get back in front of goal but Doku is once again on the charge, only stopped by a shove from Szoboszlai. Even with a team coming out to play like City have, we’ve been unable to find a solution, making our wins against Aston Villa and Real Madrid look like lucky gifts rather than returns to form. The Reds win another corner in the 72nd minute, and Cody Gakpo steps up to take it (?!) and it goes right into the blue sea. City make a change, bringing on Omar Mamoush for Doku, thankfully ending the challenges he has posed for us all day. Curtis Jones also comes on for Alexis Mac Allister, hoping to create a little more control and at least find us a consolation goal in this abysmal afternoon. Wirtz finds Kerkez and the play switches over to Salah who passes it back to Szoboszlai and the Hungarian absolutely thumps it at goal but it’s stopped easily. Liverpool get another corner that turns into a mess and even Salah isn’t able to find a place for the ball in the net. All of the focus on set pieces and we keep going for corners as if that is the be all end all way to score. Gakpo takes it once again and Virgil is very nearly able to carry it into goal but Donnarumma is there once again to gather it up. We’re hardly at the 80th minute now and to their credit, Liverpool have been throwing the kitchen sink at goal, so at least we’ve gone from poor to unlucky.
Conor Bradley comes off as Joe Gomez comes on to replace him, with Federico Chiesa coming on as well for Florian Wirtz while O’Reilly is down injured once again. We won’t have nearly as much time added to this half as the first, but there is likely around ten-ish minutes left for Liverpool to find some kind of consolation, because a win is nearly out of the question now. Three minutes have been added and City are given ages of space to add to our pain, but thankfully are thwarted somehow. The final set piece of the match is a free kick after Szoboszlai knocks heads with Foden, and though Foden gets to move the ball well, his effort goes wide.
Final Thoughts
No, we did not do the thing, despite a lot of decent efforts that came too little too late. On to the international break.
