Manchester City celebrate Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th game with 3-0 win over Liverpool, closing gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal
MANCHESTER: Manchester City marked Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th managerial game with a commanding 3-0 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League.
The win closed City’s gap to just four points behind league leaders Arsenal, who dropped points in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland on Saturday.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring with his 99th Premier League goal despite missing an early penalty, heading home Matheus Nunes’ cross on 29 minutes.
Nico Gonzalez doubled City’s lead before halftime when his deflected shot wrong-footed Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Jeremy Doku completed the scoring with a spectacular curling effort from outside the box just after the hour mark.
“Thank you to the players and staff for giving me that incredible present,” said Guardiola after the milestone match.
The City manager emphasized his team’s motivation came from within rather than Arsenal’s earlier slip-up.
Liverpool thought they had equalized through Virgil van Dijk’s header, but Andy Robertson was adjudged offside and interfering with play.
The defending champions have now lost five of their last six league games, leaving them eighth in the table and eight points off the top.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot acknowledged his team’s need for improvement after another disappointing result.
“We need to improve and that’s obvious,” said Slot. “The last thing we should focus on right now is the title race.”
Doku tormented Liverpool’s defense throughout, particularly troubling Conor Bradley on City’s left flank.
The Belgian winger won an early penalty after being fouled by Mamardashvili, though Haaland failed to convert from the spot.
Cody Gakpo missed a glorious chance to bring Liverpool back into the game early in the second half, blazing over from close range.
Mohamed Salah compounded Liverpool’s frustrations by dinking wide another excellent opportunity 10 minutes from time.
City have now won 11 of their last 14 matches across all competitions, establishing themselves as Arsenal’s primary title challengers. – AFP
