Liverpool v Manchester City (2020-21)

Liverpool v Manchester City (2020-21)

Liverpool Manchester City 1 4
HT:0–0 Report
Event	Premier League 2020-21
Date	Sunday 7 February 2021
Venue	Anfield, Liverpool
Player of the Match	Phil Foden
Referee	Michael Oliver
Attendance	0
Weather	2 °C (35 °F)
← Liverpool - TBA Man City - TBA Liverpool - TBA Man City - TBA →

Liverpool v Manchester City was a Premier League match which took place at the Anfield on Sunday 7 February 2021.

Manchester City took a potentially decisive hold on the Premier League title race as they thrashed Liverpool at Anfield - helped by a virtuoso performance by Phil Foden and a nightmare display from the champions' goalkeeper Alisson.

City's comprehensive triumph, their first at Anfield since 2003 and manager Pep Guardiola's first away to Liverpool as a manager, was achieved in such comfort that they were able to recover from Ilkay Gundogan's first-half penalty miss.

Gundogan, who skied his spot-kick after Fabinho fouled Raheem Sterling, made amends when he put City ahead four minutes into the second period, after Alisson could only push out Foden's shot.

Mohamed Salah equalised for Liverpool from the spot just after the hour after he was hauled back by Ruben Dias - but then came the combination of Alisson's errors and Foden's genius as the hosts were run ragged.

Alisson was punished for two poor clearances as Foden set up Gundogan to put City back in front after 73 minutes, then three minutes later the Brazil keeper inexplicably sent a pass straight to Bernardo Silva, whose clever cross was headed in almost on the goalline by Sterling.

City saved the best until last when Foden, the game's outstanding performer, thundered a magnificent finish high past the beleaguered Alisson seven minutes from time.

The emphatic victory leaves City five points ahead of second-placed Manchester United, having played a game less - and 10 points ahead of Liverpool with a match in hand.

Manchester City and Guardiola have had some miserable days and nights at Anfield since Jurgen Klopp became Liverpool manager - this was the game, the performance and the scoreline that made this almost the perfect day.

Guardiola's incendiary reaction to Gundogan's first-half penalty miss demonstrated how much he wanted to win this game and perhaps how he feared history repeating itself. But his frustration was short-lived as City produced a second-half masterclass that left the champions badly beaten.

And while the Reds will point to their collection of injuries as a reason for their fall from grace, it should also be pointed out that City were missing the brilliance of midfielder Kevin de Bruyne and the predatory instincts of striker Sergio Aguero.

It was only a rare error from Dias that gave Liverpool hope - although Sadio Mane headed over in the first half and Ederson saved well from Roberto Firmino - and once Gudogan restored City's advantage there was only one winner here.

At the heart of it all was the brilliant Foden, head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch and flourishing even more when Guardiola cleverly removed Riyad Mahrez and placed the 20-year-old England international on the right flank.

He made two goals and scored a sensational fourth as City put down a marker and confirmed their status as the team to beat in the title race. It was also a 14th straight win, which equals the all-time winning run by an English top-flight team, shared with Preston in 1892 and Arsenal in 1987.

City have been growing in stature in recent weeks, imperious in defence and threatening in attack - but this ruthless dismissal of an opponent that has haunted them at Anfield in the recent past is their most powerful statement of intent yet.

The sight of Liverpool keeper Alisson slumping in dejection after Foden's shot tore past him into the roof of the net - he could barely have seen it - for Manchester City's fourth goal summed up the sheer misery of the champions.

As Liverpool have won Premier League and Champions League titles, the 28-year-old Brazilian has been one of their most reliable figures, a game-changer to place alongside the arrival of defender Virgil van Dijk.

However, he suffered arguably the biggest nightmare of his Liverpool career on Sunday, making two bad clearances in the build-up to City's crucial second goal, then compounding it with an even worse error as he picked out Silva standing all on his own with an inexplicable pass, the Portuguese accepting the invitation to set up Sterling.

Liverpool showed occasional flashes of the old flair in the first half but ended up outclassed and on the receiving end of their third successive Premier League home loss, City following in the footsteps of Burnley - who ended the Reds' 68-match unbeaten league run at Anfield - and Brighton.

In reality, it was City - so organised, composed and determined to press Liverpool - who were vastly superior over the whole piece.

Of course, Liverpool injuries will take a heavy toll, but this was a tough 90 minutes for midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who is struggling to adapt to the pace of the Premier League and made life difficult for himself with a needless early foul on Gundogan that brought a yellow card.

And while much is rightly made of the attacking prowess of full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, they struggled to cope with City's width as Sterling and Foden exposed them brutally at times.

Liverpool look very flat at Anfield and the stats say it all. They are the first side to lose three straight home matches the season after winning the title since Chelsea in March 1956 and have 27 points fewer than they did at the same stage last season - the biggest drop by any reigning champions in top-flight history.

Klopp clearly felt this was not the day to risk his deadline-day centre-back signings Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak, but they still looked horribly vulnerable.

Liverpool's manager and their players have enjoyed some triumphant days against City here in recent seasons - this was not one of them.

Match

Details

7 February 2021 16:30 GMT	Liverpool	1–4	Manchester City	Anfield, Liverpool Attendance: 0 Referee: Michael Oliver
	Salah  63' (pen.)	HT:0–0 Report	Gündoğan  49', 73' Sterling  76' Foden  83'

Liverpool

Manchester City

01 Alisson 66 Trent Alexander-Arnold 03 Fabinho 14 Jordan Henderson 26 Andrew Robertson 85' 06 Thiago Alcântara 68' 05 Georginio Wijnaldum 17 Curtis Jones 68' 11 Mohamed Salah 09 Roberto Firmino 10 Sadio Mané Substitutes: 07 James Milner 68' 13 Adrián 15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 19 Ozan Kabak 21 Kostas Tsimikas 85' 23 Xherdan Shaqiri 68' 27 Divock Origi 47 Nathaniel Phillips 76 Neco Williams Manager: Jürgen Klopp

31 Ederson 27 João Cancelo 05 John Stones 03 Rúben Dias 11 Oleksandr Zinchenko 20 Bernardo Silva 16 Rodrigo 08 İlkay Gündoğan 26 Riyad Mahrez 72' 47 Phil Foden 07 Raheem Sterling Substitutes: 09 Gabriel Jesus 72' 13 Zack Steffen 14 Aymeric Laporte 21 Ferran Torres 22 Benjamin Mendy 25 Fernandinho 50 Eric García 69 Tommy Doyle 82 Adrián Bernabé Manager: Pep Guardiola

Man of the Match: Phil Foden Assistant referees: Stuart Burt Simon Bennett Fourth official: Chris Kavanagh

Match rules 90 minutes, no extra time or penalties. Three points awarded to winner, none to loser. One point awarded to each in the event of a draw. Nine named substitutes Maximum of three substitutions

Match Stats

• Match Stats

Overall	Liverpool	Manchester City
Goals scored	1	4
Total shots	8	8
Shots on target	3	5
Ball possession	56%	44%
Corner kicks	6	1
Fouls committed	13	8

See also

• 2020-21 Premier League: Match day 23

External links

• Match report at BBC.co.uk
• Match report at Premier League.com

Liverpool v Manchester City

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