Liverpool go 11 points clear as Salah inspires 2-0 win over Manchester City
A 2-0 win at the Etihad on Sunday extended Liverpool’s lead over second-placed Arsenal and consigned four-time defending champions City to another humbling defeat in an ever-worsening season.
On Wednesday, a 3-1 loss to Real Madrid sent Pep Guardiola’s team crashing out of the Champions League. Back to domestic matters on Sunday, and City were powerless to slow Liverpool’s march towards the title.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring with his 30th goal of the year, before Dominik Szoboszlai doubled the lead before half-time, again a top performer for Liverpool.
Although a trip to the Etihad has always been the toughest test, City’s defensive weaknesses were easily exposed and they had a lot of trouble with Erling Haaland being injured in the attack.
Liverpool, by contrast, had their talisman fit and firing as Salah took his staggering tally this season to 25 goals and 16 assists in 27 Premier League appearances.
The Egyptian’s brilliant set-piece routine gave the visitors a 14-minute lead before the visitors were fired in the first half.
Szoboszlai tipped Alexis Mac Allister’s corner into Salah’s path, but Nathan Ake’s shot deflected off him past Ederson’s despairing dive.
City’s own Egyptian international showed his ability to score at the other end, but Omar Marmoush had scuffled before being played in by Phil Foden.
Despite being able to skim past Trent Alexander-Arnold at will, city winger Jeremy Doku ad valorously.
As Salah rushed onto a long ball over the top and teed up Szoboszlai to the wrong foot of Ederson, Salah wasn’t so tolerant.
If Liverpool had been as accurate after the break at the counterattack, the outcome could have been much worse for City.
After Szoboszlai simply failed to time his run through the City defense, Curtis Jones was given a third goal that was ruled out by a VAR review for offside.
Luis Diaz forced Ederson to make a stunning save, and Abdukodir Khusanov’s masterful last-ditch tackle put a life on Szoboszlai’s side.
Marmoush continued to pose a threat as he fired another effort past Alisson Becker’s goal in the 4-0 win over Newcastle last weekend.
However, almost 70% of possession was left out in the final product.
Salah told Sky Sports that it was an “incredible result” for Liverpool.
“It’s very difficult to play there.” They have a fantastic manager and a tough team. I’m glad we won the game”, Salah, the player of the match, told Sky Sports.
“Winning here is special, especially in the title race. We must remain calm right now because we can’t control our emotions.
Guardiola’s side are still in fourth place despite their eighth league defeat of the year, and a top-five finish is likely enough to secure their place in the Champions League next year.
Newcastle defeated Nottingham Forest 4-3 in the previous Premier League game on Sunday, but Newcastle only managed four goals in 11 minutes to win.
At the break, Newcastle took a 4-1 lead at St James’ Park thanks to a first-half goal spree, which included two more goals from Alexander Isak.
But Forest, who led after six minutes, mounted a comeback that provided a nervous finale.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply