Liverpool took further control of the Premier League title race with a 2-0 win over Manchester City at Anfield, making it seven games without a victory for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Cody Gakpo opened the scoring from close range after a brilliant ball across the face of goal from Mohamed Salah, who would later put the match to bed from the penalty spot, as Liverpool threatened to run away with it in the opening stages.
Virgil van Dijk hit the post with a header and then nodded wide from a corner shortly after, while Gakpo blasted over as City found themselves unable to cope with the relentless wave of Liverpool attacks.
The visitors at least kept the deficit down to one heading into half-time, and for much of the second period it was a more even counter, City still in with a shout of taking something from the match and earning a result that could have turned their form around.
But with just over ten minutes remaining, City made a mess of things at the back and could not recover. Stefan Ortega, in goal in place of the dropped Ederson, charged off his line and wiped out Luis Diaz, with the referee immediately pointing to the spot.
Mohamed Salah missed a penalty in midweek against Real Madrid but no mistake here, whipping the spot-kick into the bottom corner to effectively seal victory.
“Sacked in the morning” was the chant from the Liverpool fans in the final minutes, greeted with a smirk from Guardiola and then six fingers to the crowd from the City boss, a reminder of how many times he has lifted the Premier League trophy.
On current evidence, it is going to take an extraordinary turnaround for a seventh finger to be raised.
Arne Slot’s side, who are now 11 points clear of City, hold an nine-point advantage over closest rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, and positive results this week on the road against Newcastle and Everton would leave them with an incredibly strong grip on the title race even with more than half of the season to play.
