Jack Grealish revealed he was "in the toilet and felt sick all morning" before producing a Player of the Match display to help Man City tear Liverpool apart.
Grealish provided the assist for Julian Alvarez’s equaliser – after Mohamed Salah had given the Reds the lead in the 17th minute – and rounded off the scoring in the 4-1 victory for City, who also had Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan on the scoresheet.
In truth, City were levels above the visitors throughout the match and condemned Liverpool to their third successive defeat since their memorable seven-goal victory over Manchester United – as Jurgen Klopp’s side’s hopes of a top four finish suffered a fresh blow.
However for Pep Guardiola’s side this game was even more important, as they cut the lead to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League to just five points – even though the Gunners will host Leeds on Saturday afternoon.
It was Grealish who was the standout player for City in their thrashing of the Reds as he took the mantle as the side’s attacking talisman and he gave Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold a torrid afternoon.
However, the former Aston Villa star admitted after the match that he had not been feeling well ahead of the match – having to spend a lot of time in the bathroom ahead of the game.
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Grealish told BT Sport after the match: “I was in the toilet and I felt sick all morning but I was buzzing in the end. I love football and I love playing, I love training, and when it’s going well and stuff like this there’s nothing better.
“I’m back to my normal self now, back to full fitness, I’m feeling confident, and scoring today and getting the assist is perfect.”
Speaking on the gap to Arsenal at the top and the Premier League title race, Grealish added: “Obviously you know they’re a great team, it’s in their hands at the moment so we’re just gonna keep doing everything we can to try and chase them.
“We have just got to keep winning games. I need to love you and leave you, need to go and get changed and see how many days off we’ve got!”
