MAN CITY 0, LIVERPOOL 2
This result confirmed more than anything that Manchester City’s reign as the dominant force in England is over.
Liverpool recorded their first Premier League win at City since 2015 as they moved 11 points clear at the top.
City, who would have gone third with victory, slipped 20 points behind after they suffered an eighth league loss of the campaign.
And the way the league is shaping up, City could have a battle on their hands to finish in the top four – though coefficients are like to mean England gets five places in next season’s Champions League.
First-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai put Liverpool in a position of strength and they were able to comfortable navigate their way through the second period.
Liverpool, who have lost only one of their 27 league games, are this season’s outstanding team and, in Salah, they have a player at the peak of his powers.
The 32-year-old Egyptian has 25 Premier League goals for the season and 30 in all competitions.
This was a significant goal in Liverpool’s history as it moved him to 241 and equal third with Gordon Hodgson on their all-time list.
This was his 16th away league goal which equalled the Premier League record for a season
jointly held by Kevin Phillips (1999/2000) and Harry Kane (2022/23).
Salah also became the first player in Premier League history to have 40 plus goal involvements in more than one season.
In the current campaign he already has 25 goals and 16 assists, the total of 40 was also reached in 2017/18.
Salah has also scored nine goals and stacked up six assists against Pep Guardiola – no other player can match those stats against the City boss.
Guardiola said: “We played very good. Maybe we missed more productivity in the shots, but we played against a fantastic team. Maybe at the start it was 50-50 and we could not convert.
“Second half they defended very deep. We have done something we have not tried for many games which was we brought them to their box and tried to beat them there.
“The tactic was to arrive in the final third and the byline and it happened a lot, but we did not score. We missed the next bit a little bit and with crosses it is almost impossible to do it because of their size. We could not find the next step.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slot said: “If you play away at the Etihad, it is always a big win no matter how the league table looks.
“We knew we would have to defend a lot. We did that and had good moments on the counter.”
Slot was asked about Liverpool fans chanting they had already won the league.
Embed from Getty ImagesHe continued: “Three days ago we had a draw at Villa people told me we were having a dip and then three days later we win, and it changes again.
“We are in a good position but know how hard it was to win against Wolves.
“In any other league, the lead would be comfortable, but that is not the case in the Premier League.
We work every single day to achieve this, and it is three months of very hard work to maintain this
“There is no secret. We are 11 points clear, but Arsenal has one game in hand. The best attack we had didn’t end in a goal. You always have to adapt to the challenge you have. A week ago we experienced how difficult Wolves at home was. They will always be difficult games, like today.
“It is easier for us to not get excited because we know what we have to put in. This result was more about defence than attack. It is normal for fanbases to be positive, and it is important to understand why we are where we are.”
Slot admitted at the start of the season nobody expected Liverpool to be title contenders just as nobody expected City to be so far away from the top.
Guardiola made three changes to the City side which beat Newcastle 4-0 last weekend.
Erling Haaland missed out on the squad through injury as Nathan Ake, Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne started in place of John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan.
Slot made one change to the side held to a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
Luis Diaz came into the side for Diogo Jota while Cody Gakpo returned to the bench.
City made a bright start with Doku giving Trent Alexander-Arnold a torrid time.
But it was Liverpool who made the breakthrough in the 14th minute.
Alexis Mac Allister’s low corner looked to have been miss-hit – but it was a tactical masterstroke – as it went via Szobodzlai at the near post to Salah whose shot from 14 yards deflected off Ake as it looped beyond Ederson.
City thought they were level on the half hour, but Omar Marmoush’s effort was ruled out for a clear offside.
Rico Lewis and Phil Foden linked to release the Egyptian on the right of the box as he fired in off the far post, but television replays showed Marmoush had strayed offside.
Liverpool survived the scare to double their lead in the 37th minute through Szoboszlai.
Salah provided the assist cutting in from the right before seeing Szoboszlai free as he found him with a squared pass for the Hungarian to fire home from 16 yards low to the left of Ederson was stood rooted to the spot. It was his sixth goal of the season.
Liverpool thought they had the game wrapped up in the 56th minute when Curtis Jones found the net only for it to be ruled out after a VAR check for offside.
Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai linked on the right and the latter’s cross found Joes for a simple tap-in only for the goal not to stand as the Hungarian had strayed offside.
That lifted City and moments later it might have been 2-1 instead of possibly 3-0 when Marmoush’s excellent effort was well tipped away by Alisson Becker for a corner.
Ederson denied Liverpool a third goal with a super stop to turn over an effort from Luis Diaz after he had cut in from the left.
City made their first change mid-half when Kevin De Bruyne was replaced by James McAtee.
Salah went close again, cutting in from the right before bringing a decent stop from Ederson.
Guardiola made a triple change with 13 minutes left as Ake, Nico Gonzales and Marmoush replaced by Ruben Diaz, Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic.
Salah released Szoboszlai who was clean through only for Abdukodir Khusanov to slide with a goal saving block.