Report and free match highlights from 5.15pm as goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish secured a 4-1 win for Man City over Liverpool. Pep Guardiola's side moved to within five points of Arsenal at the full-time whistle
Sunday 2 April 2023 06:38, UK
Manchester City came from behind to dismantle Liverpool 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium and maintain the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola's title challenge looked to be hanging by a thread when Mohamed Salah gave the away side an early lead but Julian Alvarez equalised before second-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish saw City surge to victory.
The win narrowed the gap on Arsenal to five points at the full-time whistle and offered a timely reminder that Guardiola's team remain a potent force even without their top scorer Erling Haaland, who was watching - and cheering - his team-mates from the stands.
Manchester City started brightly, controlling possession with John Stones alongside Rodri in midfield, but Liverpool's threat on the counter-attack was obvious. Salah was ruthless in exposing the City defence with a fine finish after Diogo Jota sprung the offside trap.
Salah was through again soon after but it proved to be the pivotal moment in the match. Grealish intercepted his centre and was back down the other end moments later providing the assist for Alvarez's equaliser, the culmination of a sumptuous City move.
It was a big moment for the Argentine, taking responsibility for leading the line in Haaland's absence, and it felt like a big moment in the title race too.
These two teams have so often been contesting that title in recent seasons, but Liverpool's struggles did not take the edge off this one - duels between Grealish and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Manuel Akanji and Jordan Henderson, adding to the sense of occasion.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, their form does not match that competitive spirit and the game soon went away from them in the second half. It took De Bruyne just 53 seconds to put City in front after Alvarez found Mahrez in space out wide with a brilliant pass.
Alvarez was involved in the third too, his left-footed shot blocked near the line by Alexander-Arnold but only as far as Gundogan. The skipper had enough time to pick his spot and ease the tension around the Etihad Stadium. City never relinquished control.
All that remained was for Grealish to score himself, slotting beyond Alisson after collecting De Bruyne's pass inside. The gap to Arsenal remains significant, back to eight points following their win over Leeds, but so too is the quality of the reigning champions.
Their hopes of a treble remain. Liverpool finish the day in eighth.
Manchester City had won their previous two Premier League matches in which Haaland did not start, although the last time that happened was in November - and he did come off the bench to score a late winner. This time he was emphatically not required.
That was largely down to Alvarez's impressive contribution. He scored one and was involved in the next two City goals. His finish was typical. His distribution in the build-up to De Bruyne's goal showed another element to his game, expertly playing in Mahrez.
There was the odd moment in the first half when the ball bounced around the box and one wondered whether Haaland would have been there to convert. But the overriding emotion at the finish was that City might be more fluent without him. Credit to Alvarez for that.
"I was in the toilet! I felt sick all morning but I feel alright now!
"It was a brilliant performance," Grealish told BT Sport. "We knew it was going to be a tough game against Liverpool. We wanted to start this last period of the season right. We responded brilliantly to going behind and we were excellent in the second half."
In truth, Grealish was excellent throughout, tormenting Alexander-Arnold and even making a significant defensive contribution for his team. This might just have been his best performance for City - certainly his best in what felt like a very big game.
Could he help push City on to another Premier League title? "Arsenal are a great team," he continued. "It is in their hands at the moment. But we are going to do everything we can to chase them. We have got to keep winning games."
"Minute one to minute 93, it was a perfect performance," Guardiola told BT Sport.
"When we conceded the goal, we were playing really well. Of course, they are always a threat in the transitions, but we played really well in all departments. It was one of our best performances in these seven years.
"The players knew were weren't playing badly [when we went 1-0 down]. We adjusted our process a little bit at half-time. Of course we were lucky to score the second goal, but the game was so stable during 93 minutes."
"Everyone could see the first half was OK, not only the result," said Klopp in his press conference after the game. "City had more possession but that always happens when we play here and we scored a wonderful goal, could have scored a second one in a really good counter-attack.
"Then, I would say this situation was rather unlucky, Kevin De Bruyne gets a touch, [the ball] rolls through Robbo's legs and then 1-1. You come out of half-time, a ball in midfield, not even a challenge, we are too deep. If you are too deep, too passive they use that, so that is 2-1.
"The 3-1 super quick, after we have three or four one-on-one situations and we don't make a challenge and you saw what happened, we were not there, anyone, too passive, too open, too deep, too far away from anything.
"Four performances were OK, the two midfielders, Hendo and Fab, worked a lot, Cody and Ali, and that is very difficult. If you want to get something here, 14 or 15 players have to be on top of their game and that was not the case.
"We had a situation for 3-2 when Robbo broke through but apart from that City could do what they wanted because the spaces were too big so we were lucky they only scored one more."
This was the start of an immensely busy April that will see Manchester City compete in eight more matches across three competitions.
Next up is a trip to Southampton next Saturday, live on Sky Sports with kick-off at 5.30pm. Then their Champions League quarter-final ties against Bayern Munich come either side of a home game with Leicester City, which is also live on Sky Sports on April 15.
The FA Cup semi-final with Sheffield United comes four days before a potential title-deciding clash with Arsenal, before a trip to Fulham in front of the Sky Sports cameras rounds off a busy week.
Meanwhile, you can watch four out of Liverpool's next six games on Sky Sports - including their next two matches away at Chelsea on Tuesday night and against Arsenal in eight days' time. Trips to Leeds and West Ham, as well as home games with Tottenham and Nottingham Forest are on Jurgen Klopp's agenda.
