Both Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp would have likely circled this as a championship decider when the Premier League schedule was released in the summer.
And that’s exactly what it could end up being. at least for Manchester City. Arsenal received a warning from the defending champions that they will not enter the same pitch-black darkness that looks to have engulfed Liverpool easily.
Mo Salah’s typical goal against them gave City the motivation they needed to ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴏʏ the Merseysiders. regardless of Erling Haaland. Before Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish added goals in the second half, Julian Alvarez restored parity.
Manchester currently behind Arsenal by five points and could use some help from Liverpool when Mikel Arteta’s team visits Anfield the following weekend.
The Reds have their own reasons, of course, as their chances of earning a top-four consolation were severely ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇᴅ by this, their ninth loss of the year. Liverpool still hosts Eurovision, at least.
To avoid this recent one-season hiccup becoming a bad trend, Klopp needs a thorough overhaul in the summer. By City’s standards, this hasn’t been a particularly good year, but they are still vying for the Triple Crown. When you’re the ʀᴇᴀʟ deal, you act in that way.
Despite all the excitement, the ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴛʏ is rather different from the notion that these two north-western teams are the dominant forces in this period. Just once, in the six seasons Guardiola and Klopp have faced off, has Liverpool finished ahead of City; that was in 2020, when they won the title for the first time in 30 years.
It’s true that Liverpool has amassed eye-watering point totals to finish second twice, but Manchester United has finished second just as often during the same time frame. At Old Trafford, this is supposedly the decade of doom.
The sole Premier League victory for Klopp at the Etihad Stadium came under Manuel Pellegrini’s leadership more than seven years ago. And while Guardiola has also struggled at Anfield, the Liverpool stadium has served as City’s last resting place for at least 70 years.
Of course, Klopp has won the Champions League, the one prize that Guardiola failed to win while at City. Perhaps this is why, with a quarterfinal matchup against Bayern Munich on the horizon, the Catalan decided against taking a chance on 42-goal Haaland.
With the score tied in the first half, Liverpool would have a case to ᴀʀɢᴜᴇ that City midfielder Rodri ought to have been dismissed for two cynical fouls. Yet when Fabinho was kicking lumps out of Grealish in the first few minutes, referee Simon Hooper had been just as forgiving.
When Diogo Jota had sprung the offside trap, Salah netted his 11th goal in 19 games against City, giving the visitors a momentary spring in their step.
Guardiola threw up his hands in frustration when Salah ambushed them again, only for Grealish to intercept his pass to Jota just as a second goal appeared to be coming inevitably.
Nevertheless, a short while later, it was Klopp’s time to rant, criticizing Andy Robertson for being drawn out of position when De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, and Gundogan worked together to set up Grealish to score a goal for Villa.
Only 53 seconds into the second half, Mahrez raced behind Robertson and supplied De Bruyne with a low cross that the Belgian snatched up to sᴛʀɪᴘ the meat from Liverpool’s bones versus City. Seven minutes later, after Liverpool had grown weary of chasing the Sky Blue shadows, Gundogan scored from close range.
The majority of Liverpool’s traveling supporters decided their team could spend the final 15 minutes of the game strolling alone after Grealish concluded a magnificent performance by completing the rout from De Bruyne’s ball.
The home crowd dusted out their Poznan celebration as they were making their way to the East Lancs Road and suggested to Klopp that he might be fired. City stood out on that particular day. Yet, they have for the most of the previous six seasons.