Man City increased the pressure on Arsenal in the Premier League title race with a 4-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday.
Liverpool took the lead through Mohamed Salah’s first-time strike after Diogo Jota broke the offside trap and teed up Mohamed Salah for a first-time finish, but Julian Alvarez equalised from six yards on the half-hour mark.
One minute into the second half City took the lead through Kevin de Bruyne and they never looked back after that, Ilkay Gundogan making it three and Jack Grealish netting a deserved fourth. Here are the player ratings from the Etihad:
Man City
Ederson, 6. No chance with Salah’s strike and had basically nothing else to do in the rest of the game.
Manuel Akanji, 7. Lost out in the goal against both Jota and Salah but was otherwise fairly solid in his defensive work.
Ruben Dias, 6. Rarely had direct duels against Gakpo but Salah certainly got the better of him more than once in the first half. Very economical with his passing.
Nathan Ake, 7. Defensively sound in the channel after the first 20 minutes when Salah beat him twice. Cleared well inside his own area when the Reds tried to increase the pressure.
John Stones, 8. Playing the changeable role from right-back cover to narrow in midfield on the ball, was always available to progress possession and gave cover against any attempted buildup play.
Rodri, 6. Some neat passes between Liverpool’s midfield and defensive lines. Booked for a foul on Jota then did the exact same on Gakpo - wasn’t shown a second. Also didn’t track the runner for Liverpool’s goal, though was very comfortable on the ball second half.
Ilkay Gundogan, 8. Didn’t really need to have a telling final impact to be one of the game’s best; Liverpool just couldn’t get near him. Fine runs off the ball, link play was good and relentless work rate. Then he plundered the third goal anyway.
Kevin de Bruyne, 8. Pulled strings all game, whether shorter-range clips behind the defence or roving into the channels. Scored right after the restart, totally unmarked. Assisted the fourth.
Riyad Mahrez, 8. Went close twice with a free-kick and a ferocious half-volley over the bar. Assisted City’s second with a fine low cross. A threat and an outlet all afternoon.
Julian Alvarez, 8. Fairly quiet in the opening stages but found space to fire the leveller from close range. Great workrate throughout thereafter and involved in another goal or two as City got into gear.
Jack Grealish, 9. Very lively early on, winning free-kicks and opening chances for his teammates. Great tracking back to stop a Salah one-on-one, then set up Alvarez’s equaliser. Topped off a fantastic performance with City’s final goal.
Subs: B Silva n/a, C Palmer n/a
Liverpool
Alisson, 5. Made a good save from Grealish and one or two other good interventions, but should have done better for De Bruyne’s goal. Good footwork a number of times.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, 2. Wasteful on the ball and struggled against Grealish’s dribbles. Committed far too many fouls and never really got himself on the front foot to aid the counter. Also culpable in the third goal and totally lost, then left, Grealish for the fourth on a truly dreadful day for the right-back.
Ibou Konate, 6. Aggressive defensive work whenever he had the chance to step out and good in the aerial challenge, but had too many runners to cope.
Virgil van Dijk, 4. Just about did enough to deny Gundugan a quick equaliser but was out of position when Alvarez scored and again on De Bruyne’s. Nowhere near his top level.
Andy Robertson, 4. Mahrez had him on toast all game. Some poor decision-making in possession and never able to stop the cross or shot from his side.
Fabinho, 6. Three fouls in seven minutes earned him a warning he heeded and he was one of the Reds’ better performers on the day. Passed well through the centre, won the ball in key areas and supported the counter from deep.
Harvey Elliott, 5. Hard work and endeavour without any real reward. Tried to counter when possible and held his right midfield position well, but doesn’t have the athleticism to both attack and defend relentlessly.
Jordan Henderson, 3. Made a couple of tackles around the edge of the box but was far too easily beaten by runners and lost a challenge in the build-up to 1-1. Absolutely nowhere near any of City’s midfielders second half.
Diogo Jota, 5. Broke the offside trap to set up the opening goal and worked hard throughout but rarely had much success from a technical standpoint - still looks rusty after injury and is now nearly a year without a goal of his own.
Mohamed Salah, 6. Fantastic first-time finish to put his team ahead and looked really strong in the dribble against Akanji. Missed a good chance to free Jota for a second though and faded second half before being subbed.
Cody Gakpo, 4. Never really in the game at all and lucky not to be booked for diving. His best moment came when he controlled on the turn and took a shot, but he was offside anyway, which sums it up.
Subs: R Firmino 5, K Tsimikas 6, D Nunez 5, A Oxlade-Chamberlain 5, J Milner n/a
