Match Report and Player Ratings: Manchester City 0-2 Liverpool (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City put in another lifeless showing as they were easily beaten by Premier League leaders Liverpool this afternoon.

Another terrible first-half performance from Pep Guardiola’s men had them 0-2 down after Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai exposed the defensive fragility which has been on display for so much of this season.

The Reds saw out their advantage with ease in the second-half, meaning they collected their first Premier League win at the Etihad Stadium of the Guardiola era and completed a rare league double over the departing champions.

Wednesday’s tame Champions League exit would have left many eyeing up this meeting with the league leaders as a risk of heavy defeat, although City started the better of the teams, applying pressure, getting the only shot on target of the first 10 minutes through Phil Foden.

But familiar problems began cropping up for the Blues as they gave up chances in their own half and, after Abdukodir Khusanov had to scramble one out for a corner after Rico Lewis’ giveaway, a well-worked set-piece allowed Salah to score via a deflection off Nathan Ake.

The game settled into a calmer pattern for a while, nearly livening up on half an hour when Omar Marmoush hit a terrific finish from a tight angle past Alisson, but was denied the equaliser by the offside flag.

Liverpool didn’t even need to look particularly threatening to cut through and score again though, Salah easily holding off Josko Gvardiol and find the utterly unmarked Szoboszlai, who shot through the legs of Khusanov and wrong-footed the blinded Ederson for 0-2.

Thing were no different in the second period; Szoboszlai walked, walked in behind the City backline to ease it onto a plate for Curtis Jones, and only a VAR check deeming the Hungarian to be offside spared the Blues a third goal into their net.

City were at least initially buoyed by the reprieve, Marmoush popping up with another angled drive which Alisson was required to tip away, but Liverpool were again dangerous as Diaz rampaged on transition and forced Ederson into a sprawling stop.

Liverpool weren’t even really trying to break City down anymore, and they were still being offered chances to score – a mix-up between substitutes Ruben Dias and Mateo Kovacic allowed Salah in, and only the retreating Khusanov’s tackle stopped Szoboszlai scoring.

City remain fourth in the Premier League thanks to slip-ups from Bournemouth and Chelsea this weekend, but more toothless displays like this will have Pep Guardiola’s men scrambling to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Here’s how we rated the Manchester City players in their drab defeat to Liverpool!

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Ederson – 5

Left stranded on both Liverpool goals, although could maybe have been expected to at least move towards the second. One or two decent saves otherwise.

Rico Lewis – 4.5

Largely not terrible in his possession work, but made a couple of sloppy giveaways, most notably ahead of the corner which led to the opener.

Abdukodir Khusanov – 6

Two vital interventions on Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz in the opening moments, but was powerless as the structure crumbled around him. Probably City’s best defender this afternoon.

Nathan Ake – 5

Had an early tangle with Mohamed Salah in which he came off second best, and deflected in the opener, albeit unluckily. Often left frantically chasing back as Liverpool cut through again and again.

Josko Gvardiol – 5

Never disgraced against Mohamed Salah but rarely comfortable either. Applied some classy touches in the final third but equally lost concentration on the ball at times.

Nico – 6

Struggled to anchor things defensively more or less by himself, but was a lot more comfortable controlling things from deep than he was against Real Madrid.

Kevin de Bruyne – 4

Doesn’t look good for him. These were the occasions in which his marvellous reputation was forged, but those old moments of magic seem to be beyond him these days. Decent enough providing control from deep, but very little creativity.

Savinho – 6.5

The brightest spark in attack, making the most consistently good decisions. Ran hard in the press and tracking back too.

Phil Foden – 4

As with Kevin De Bruyne, he’s decided games like this by himself in the past, so to see him reduced to bounce passes and hopeless shots from miles out is worrying to say the least.

Omar Marmoush – 5

Willing to try things but didn’t have much joy. Deliveries weren’t the best, particularly a series of very disappointing corners.

Jeremy Doku – 5.5

The eternal Jeremy Doku conundrum – how much praise can you really give him for his amazing dribbling skills when he rarely ever has the end product to do something meaningful after he’s beaten his man?

Substitutes

James McAtee – 5

Rarely able to influence things.

Ruben Dias – 5

Nearly caused a calamity with a defensive mix-up.

Mateo Kovacic – 5

The other party in what was the final, but certainly not only, gaff at the back for the Blues.

Ilkay Gundogan – 5.5

Knitted play as Liverpool stood off and allowed Manchester City to play out their defeat.