An entertaining and exciting contest at Anfield saw a surprising 1-0 victory for Liverpool over Manchester City.
Mohamed Salah fired in the winning goal, slotting it past Ederson as Alisson’s long ball on the counter-attack went through Joao Cancelo.
City thought they’d taken the lead earlier in the second half when Phil Foden fired in from a tight angle, however, the goal was disallowed as Erling Haaland was penalised for an earlier foul.
It’s reported that Man City claims that coins were thrown at Pep GuardiolaFollowing the decision.
During the match’s final stages, Jurgen Klopp, Reds boss was sent off to Anthony Taylor by the referee.
Liverpool won the game despite having to leave their manager at the end. This puts them back in the top half, four points behind Arsenal.
Even after a 7-1 Champions League win, Rangers went into the game with some trepidation due to their sketchy form. The selection of James Milner at right back (36-year-old) was a more drastic defensive move.
The first half was entertaining but not exciting. Liverpool defied all their troubles and took the game to their opponent. They also controlled the game for large portions.
City were certainly not at their best, and Haaland was given a few chances and would not have been dissatisfied if they scored from De Bruyne’s far-post headers.
Liverpool had only one effort on target in the opening 45 minutes but Diogo Jota could also have done better with his header he directed straight at Ederson from Harvey Elliott’s cross.
But what was apparent from this performance which was not on a number of others this season was Liverpool’s willingness to put in a shift.
Elliott, 19, was surprisingly preferred to Jordan Henderson as midfield captain. His lack of defensive abilities have been criticised, but Elliott’s awareness, discipline, and leadership qualities were also noted.
Virgil van Dijk finally looked the same world-class defender he was in the past, marshalling the backline calmly and authoritatively, while Milner even levelled the playing field against Phil Foden.
City is not one to be silenced, and the second half was much more open.
Salah was sent through by Roberto Firmino, Elliott, and Nathan Ake. However, Ederson missed what appeared to be a crucial goal and Ederson did not see Taylor. Taylor gave a goal-kick.
Haaland ignored Fabinho and set up the move that saw Alisson save his shot, but Foden was able to force the rebound past Joe Gomez.
Liverpool’s players were incensed as they felt the Norway international had committed at least one if not two infringements as he also appeared to take the ball out of the goalkeeper’s hands and VAR official Darren England agreed, sending Taylor to the monitor to reverse his decision.
Guardiola was apoplectic at the outcome but Jota heading over from Salah’s cross gave him more cause for concern.
The game ignited, the atmosphere cranked up a couple of notches and so did City’s intensity, with Alisson sticking out an arm to deny Haaland again.
Klopp’s substitutions, three of them in the 72nd minute, were positive, with Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Jordan Henderson coming on and Salah getting some new instructions from his manager.
Whatever he said it was effective as within four minutes the Egypt international had breached Ederson’s goal in front of the Kop with the perfect counter-attacking move.
Anfield was shattered, but Klopp, who was angry that Taylor had not called a foul on Salah, was fired.
Van Dijk prevented Haaland from scoring an equaliser, but City made it a point to push Liverpool hard. Liverpool’s resilience was a testament to their determination and gave life to a season that had been dreadful.
