Liverpool could not compete with Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp had claimed. And over 38 games this season, he may be right, with the gap still standing at 10 points. But over 90 febrile, fantastic minutes, Liverpool ended the champions’ unbeaten start, offering a reminder of why Anfield remains Pep Guardiola’s bogey ground and Klopp his toughest opponent.
Liverpool have made a premature departure from the title race this season and Klopp exited a famous victory early, sent off for yelling in the assistant referee Gary Beswick’s ear. His disciplinary record may have deteriorated but on the pitch, he improved an already remarkable statistic. He extended his unrivalled number of wins against Guardiola to 12 and the context made this one of the greatest.
The Reds went from their worst start to a season under him to their best performance since April with a brilliant, blistering display. Whatever the financial disparity between them and City that Klopp referenced on Friday, they demonstrated they can defeat them on the pitch. There was no inferiority complex where it mattered most.
If Liverpool had been a shadow of themselves this season, the same felt true of Mohamed Salah. Yet the defining rivalry in the Premier League in recent years spurred the Footballer of the Year back to a state of high-speed superiority.
Erling Haaland seems destined to succeed him as the Golden Boot winner, but Salah was the scorer in their first Premier League duel. After five games without a goal, he scored one that established a four-point lead at the division’s summit: but for Arsenal, not Liverpool or City.
Yet everything else felt a subplot on a day that illustrated why the Guardiola-Klopp rivalry can be so compelling. It was ferocious in pace, audacious in ambition and heated in temper.
Perhaps Thiago Alcantara should have been sent off for upending Rodri; Bernardo Silva’s challenge on Salah, which so aggravated Klopp, was scarcely perfectly timed, either, and the controversy extended to a disallowed goal that Guardiola may feel continues his tradition of misfortune at Anfield. But it was fast and frenzied, fabulous entertainment in a messy epic.
Even the manner of the winner was extraordinary, with a goal set up by the goalkeeper. Alisson already has an assist against Manchester United to his name. He added one against Man City with a long pass that was pinpoint in its accuracy, taking out most of the players on the pitch, and finding Salah. Not Joao Cancelo, who should have stopped the Egyptian, but he spun away and slotted a shot past Ederson.
City may have been given false hope a few minutes earlier when Klopp made a triple substitution and Salah’s number went up. It transpired it was a mistake: he stayed on and struck. Instead, two changes brought on Darwin Nunez and a fit-again Trent Alexander-Arnold, each of whom should have doubled the lead at the death.
Liverpool had recaptured their intensity and identity, mustering the kind of fast start they have lacked too often this season and which has blown City away at times in the past. Not here, though: while Diogo Jota and Andy Robertson could have broken the deadlock, it was goalless at the break and City were the first to have the ball in the net.
Briefly, it seemed as though Phil Foden had celebrated his new five-year contract with the opener, the Mancunian slotting home after Haaland had challenged Alisson, with the goalkeeper feeling he had the ball in his grasp. After referee Anthony Taylor went to the monitor, a foul was given: not on Alisson, but Fabinho, when Haaland grabbed a handful of red jersey to drag the Liverpool midfielder down seconds earlier.
The City manager’s reaction seems destined to become a meme. It was not the first time Guardiola has ended up gesturing histrionically and yelling ineffectually on the Anfield touchline as he has been barracked; this time, strangely, he seemed to be urging them to be louder.
It came in an astonishing few minutes early in the second half, sandwiched by two moments when Liverpool were inches from leading. Klopp had taken the lessons from Salah’s hat-trick at Rangers and fielded him as a striker, demoting Nunez and sparing him comparisons with Haaland.
And, even before he scored, Salah was outstanding. A couple of minutes before Foden’s disallowed goal, he was denied by a sensational save from Ederson, tipping the ball wide. Salah had been sent scurrying clear by Roberto Firmino and the slightest of touches meant that, from a City perspective, the ball was diverted the right side of the post. A couple of minutes later, he crossed with nonchalant deftness and Jota headed against the outside of the post.
Klopp’s choices were vindicated, but there was a bravery to playing 4-2-3-1, to dropping Jordan Henderson and picking Harvey Elliott. Necessity meant James Milner was up against Foden but the veteran proved doughty. Joe Gomez was terrific and ended up with the player-of-the-match award. Alongside him, Virgil van Dijk returned to form, a colossus delivering against the best.
But well as each played, it feels impossible to keep Haaland completely quiet. Instead, as Liverpool joined Bournemouth in a select band to stop him from scoring in the Premier League, he still had chances. Alisson held a Haaland chip when the giant tried the subtle approach. Kevin de Bruyne first hooked a ball into his path, then delivered a curled cross. The first headed was directed over, the second at Alisson. After the break, the Brazilian clawed away a low shot.
It seemed his most meaningful contribution until the goalkeeper released Salah, he sprinted away and Liverpool had not just competed with City. They had beaten them.
