Manchester City kept their Premier League titles hopes alive with a 4-1 thrashing of Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.
Premier League
Result: Manchester City 4-1 Liverpool
Date: 01 April 2023
Venue: Etihad Stadium
The Citizens were without the services of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, as Pep Guardiola handed starts to Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez.
For Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp opted to start Darwin Nunez on the bench as Diogo Jota joined Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo in the attack, while Jordan Henderson was also recalled.
The home side dominated in the early exchanges of the first half, although their first real opening came from a set-piece as Mahrez curled one inches wide of the upright from the edge of the box.
However, it was Liverpool who broke the deadlock on 16 minutes when a swift counter attack ended with Jota laying the ball off for Salah, who sent a fine finish into the far corner.
City did not panick as they pulled themselves level on 28 minutes as Alvarez turned home Jack Grealish's cross after neat passing move around the area.
Guardiola's charges remained in control after that but were unable to carve out another clear-cut chance in the remaining stages of the first stanza.
That all changed two minutes into the second half when Ilkay Gundogan's defence splitting pass found Mahrez on the winger, with the Algerian teeing up De Bruyne for the close-range finish.
The lead was extended for the home side on 53 minutes when Gundogan added his name to the score-sheet with a close-range finish after goal-mouth scramble.
Klopp then responded with four substitutions in the 67th minute, as Nunez, Roberto Firmino, Konstantinos Tsimikas and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came on to freshen up the team.
The changes could not stop City from scoring a fourth goal, as the influential Grealish combined with De Bruyne before calmly slotting into the bottom corner in the 74th minute.
The hosts did have a couple more chances to extend their lead in the latter stages, but the likes of Grealish and De Bruyne were unable to profit as the encounter ended 4-1 in Manchester.
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