He played to survive in the Anfield ring and Liverpool sent him to fifth place in the standings, out of the Champions League. Three months ago, the most vibrant team in Europe, the most innovative, current Premier League champion for the fourth consecutive season, City has undergone a degrading transformation. At the rival’s first attack he exposed his miseries. The defenders alternated anguish with frivolity and the forwards seemed half dejected, half absent, in the face of a crisis that exhibits the worst version of everyone except a true solitary hero.
2
Caoimhín Kelleher, Trent Alexander-Arnold (Jarell Quansah, min. 72), Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister, Cody Gakpo (Darwin Núñez, min. 72), Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Mohamed Salah ( Curtis Jones, min 83) and Luis Díaz (Harvey). Elliott, min.
0
Stefan Ortega, Nathan Aké, Rúben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden (Kevin De Bruyne, min. 78), Matheus Nunes (Jérémy Doku, min. 56), Rico Lewis (Jack Grealish, min. 78 ), Ilkay Gündogan (Savinho, min. 57) and Erling Haaland
Goals
1-0 min. 11: Start. 2-0 min. 77: False
Referee Chris Kavanagh
yellow cards
Matheus (min. 23), Foden (min. 31), Ryan Gravenberch (min. 35), Manuel Akanji (min. 45)
The chain reaction seems unstoppable since Rodri’s injury. Between Gakpo, Salah and Luis Díaz, they did nothing to mitigate it. Gakpo’s goal after ten minutes capped a chain of clear chances and set in motion a sequence of errors and counterattacks that culminated in a 2-0 lead. It could have been worse. It was City’s seventh consecutive defeat. On the other bench, Arne Slot, who had just led the 4-0 against Madrid, continues his unexpected triumphant march.
a ton of responsibility. The man who inherited Jürgen Klopp’s reign was tasked with perfecting a team with few shortcomings and doing so while filling a conspicuous leadership void. No new signings, as American owners scrutinize the destination of every dollar they invest. With the same squad with which Klopp lost the leadership of the Premier last spring, Slot has taken the lead in this tournament with 34 points, followed by Arsenal and Chelsea with 25. Liverpool’s game is no more overwhelming than it did a year but no footballer has gotten off the tram and some, like Gakpo and Gravenberch, show signs of having acquired a maturity that they did not have.
Faced with Liverpool’s growth, City’s depression. Nothing exposed the precarious situation more starkly than the presence of Bernardo Silva and Rico Lewis in the double pivot, once Gündogan ran out of fuel in the second half. In the absence of Rodri, Kovacic and Stones, all injured, the last improvisation of what is supposed to be the stabilizing axis of the entire machinery, were the Portuguese playmaker turned total footballer and the youth player. Around the two brave men trembled a defense eaten away by anguish and attackers overwhelmed by the feeling that the goals they score do not matter since the rival will score more.
At the end of the first half, Liverpool had 11 shots to City’s one. The pressure coordinated by the men in red, from the immeasurable Van Dijk to Luis Díaz, wreaked havoc on the unbalanced visitors. Guardiola stretched the blanket at one end of the field and discovered shortcomings at the other. City gained strength in defense thanks to the return of Ruben Dias, but against such energetic and astute opponents, the central defenders are not enough to break the pressure if the attackers do not support the exits together with the interiors. The lack of ambition of Haaland, Foden and Nunes was terrifying. They seemed exhausted before touching the first ball. City’s midfielders and defenders lost balls that previously found their destination because their teammates showed up less than ever up front. Unfortunately, there were players who behaved selfishly and indolently. After the initial shock, Guardiola watched the spectacle without hardly scratching his head.
Guardiola did what he could to restore some serenity in his area, starting with the substitution of Ederson for Ortega in goal. When Liverpool slowed down in the second half and City began to build a foundation of confidence thanks to Bernardo and the introduction of Doku, the chain was broken by the hardest link. Set to clear a ball, the sober Dias indulged in reckless driving. Like Gvardiol. Frivolity made Díaz’s robbery possible and Ortega took a penalty. The score of 2-0, with fifteen minutes remaining, sealed the match.
The result was not as astonishing as City’s poor play. In eight years, Guardiola’s team only won once at Anfield, in 2021, without an audience due to the pandemic. This time the defeat leaves him 11 points behind the lead, fifth in the standings.
