Manchester City sent a statement to Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 4-1 thumping of Liverpool in Saturday’s early kick-off.
Pep Guardiola’s men moved to within five points of the Gunners again ahead of their clash with Leeds, coming from behind to sweep aside the toothless Reds.
Jurgen Klopp’s side took a surprise lead but were then promptly dismantled by the reigning champions, proving just how wide the chasm between these two rivals now is.
The hosts dominated possession in the opening stages but couldn’t quite break the visitors down. A deep cross from Kevin De Bruyne was knocked across goal by Ilkay Gundogan early on but Alisson scampered off his line to intercept it and avert any danger.
A sweetly-struck half-volley from Rodri then flew into Alisson’s grateful grasp before a free-kick from Riyad Mahrez whistled past the post as Man City began to turn the screw and open Liverpool up.
But against the run of play, Liverpool took a 17th-minute lead. A long ball over the top from Trent Alexander-Arnold caught the Man City defence cold, with Diogo Jota racing in behind and holding the ball up for Mohamed Salah to smash home.
Guardiola’s charges sought to quickly bring the scores level again – twice Gundogan teed up Mahrez on the edge of the area in the following minutes, twice the Algerian fluffed his lines after failing to strike the ball sweetly.
Salah nearly took advantage of some aggressive Man City defending when he raced clear on the break following a corner, but Jack Grealish of all people recovered and stole the ball back in the nick of time.
And that proved to be a turning point as Man City immediately went down the other end and equalised. De Bruyne flicked the ball through midfield for Mahrez and then onto Gundogan, who in turn quickly shifted possession wide for Grealish, putting it on a plate for Julian Alvarez to tap in from close range.
READ NEXT
After a quiet end to the first half, the champions went in front within a minute of the restart. Liverpool pushed high up early doors, allowing Alvarez to freely switch play for the advancing Mahrez, and he crossed for De Bruyne to fire in after Alisson missed the low cross.
Soon after, Man City had a third. Alvarez was once again at the heart of the move, weaving his way past several trailing Liverpool legs in the box and firing a shot into the shins of Alexander-Arnold, with Gundogan on hand to slot home the rebound.
Liverpool nearly pulled one back from the resulting kick-off, with Cody Gakpo’s…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at 90min EN…