The debate over which of Liverpool or Manchester City are superior at full strength will continue for some time yet but the Reds are beginning to make an irresistible case for possessing the better squad.
Liverpool’s hunt for four major trophies is still alive with a 3-2 FA Cup semifinal win at Wembley on Saturday as a result of Liverpool’s greater strength in depth. Manchester City undoubtedly had the harder Champions League quarterfinal engagement in midweek — Liverpool had the luxury of a two-goal advantage heading into their second leg at home against Benfica while Pep Guardiola’s side travelled to Atletico Madrid with their tie firmly in the balance — and City were unable to hide their scars.
Pep Guardiola made seven changes for Saturday’s match to try and freshen his team up, having chosen to fly from Madrid direct to London on Thursday and train at Millwall on Friday to offset any fatigue. Yet City were a shadow of their best selves, unable to cope with Liverpool’s intensity from kick-off and further undermining their display with a host of individual mistakes.
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Ibrahima Konate headed in Andy Robertson’s ninth-minute corner — his third goalscoring game in a row — as Nathan Ake and Gabriel Jesus made a mess of defending a routine set-piece. Zack Steffen tried and failed to replicate Ederson’s composure when these two sides met six days earlier. Ederson was almost closed down with the ball at his feet on the goal-line by Diogo Jota only to play a casual pass out to alleviate the danger. Steffen, however, got the ball stuck under his feet from a simple John Stones back-pass and Sadio Mane pounced, tackling City’s back-up goalkeeper and turning the ball into the net in one motion.
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