Jack Grealish was one of the best players on the Manchester City side in the 4-1 victory over Liverpool in the 29th round of the Premier League.
After the win over Liverpool, Erling Haaland posted a photo with Grealish on social media with the description: “Great performance by the team and this guy”. The Norwegian striker did not play in front of “The Kop” due to an injury but entered the dressing room to congratulate his teammates after the game.
Under Haaland’s post, a Man City fan comме𝚗ted: “Grealish’s class performance”. “He is the difference against Liverpool,” another fan expressed his feelings.
On talkSPORT, former England international Gabriel Agbonlahor shared his opinion on Grealish’s performance against Liverpool: “The fans owe him an apology. Many people once judged him not worthy of the price of 100 million pounds. But today Now, he is the key factor to helping Man City win the game.”
In Man City’s 4-1 victory over Liverpool in round 29 of the Premier League, Grealish contributed 1 goal and 1 assist. Not only that, but the English striker also had an impressive defensive support situation in the 25th minute. At that time, the former Aston Villa star ran home to stop a dangerous counter-attack that could help Liverpool soon raise the score. 2-0.
Led after a goal by Mohamed Salah, Man City still imposed the game and created a convincing comeback. In addition to Grealish, the remaining scorers for “The Citizens” are Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, and IIkay Gundogan.
So far this season, Grealish has four goals and five assists in 22 Premier League appearances. The 27-year-old performed better in coach Pep Guardiola’s system than last season. The English star is gradually integrating and becoming an irreplaceable piece of Man City.
Despite winning 3 points against Liverpool, the Etihad Stadium team could not shorten the 8-point gap with Arsenal in the Premier League rankings. In the match that followed, the “Gunners” won against Leeds also with a score of 4-1 to keep the top spot. Man City is still playing one game less than Arsenal.
Jack Grealish deserves £100m
The Telegraph believes that the difference between Man City and Liverpool in the last match lies in two wing positions. The home team at times relied on Grealish and Riyad Mahrez’s ability to pull the ball to organize the play. Both can p/e/n/e/t/r/a/t/e the middle to finish or coordinate to make the Liverpool defense difficult. Three of the four goals scored by the Etihad team against Liverpool came from simple but effective side attacks.
“Grealish and Riyad Mahrez make full-backs like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson mediocre,” the newspaper comме𝚗ted.
Within 3 minutes (from 25 to 27 minutes), Grealish had a situation to prove that he was Man City’s most impressive player against Liverpool. The English midfielder sped up and grabbed the ball at Salah’s feet when the Liverpool striker was about to face Alisson. Then, it only took a minute for Grealish to be in the opponent’s penalty area to assist Julian Alvarez to score.
Up to 10 Liverpool players played in a 7-0 victory over Man Utd in the Premier League in March. Coach Jurgen Klopp did not shuffle the squad. However, Liverpool could not maintain the effectiveness and control of the game when facing a team that is as good at taking advantage of space and knowing how to exploit weaknesses on the flanks as Man City.
“Liverpool’s defense is open. Man City can do whatever they want. If they only have 10 ме𝚗 on the field, we can’t win,” the former Dortmund coach shared after the match.
Since the beginning of the 2022/23 season, Grealish has 4 goals and 5 assists in 22 Premier League appearances. These are modest numbers compared to many other attacking midfielders. But clever runs, changes of direction when dribbling over people, or simply fouls from the right situation are not seen by the numbers. Grealish is doing well in those respects.
“How the ball plays are more important than the statistics,” coach Pep Guardiola said, “Grealish helps Man City play at the right pace and create good passes. I love the sight of the audience clapping when Grealish leaves the field. He deserves it.”
There have been worries for Man City when Haaland has not recovered from injury. But Pep proved that the Etihad Stadium team is a well-organized and cohesive team through a 4-1 victory over Liverpool. The Times said that Grealish proved he was worth the price of 100 million pounds and gradually became an important piece in Man City’s system.