Manchester City outclassed Liverpool with an outstanding performance at Etihad Stadium, maintaining pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal despite the injury to Erling Haaland.
The 42-goal scorer for City was ruled out due to a groin injury, but Pep Guardiola’s defending champions showed their overall strength by rallying from a goal down against a Liverpool team that has historically been a challenge for them to win convincingly.
After 17 minutes, Liverpool caught City off guard with a counterattack to take the lead. Diogo Jota made the break, and Mohamed Salah scored with a powerful finish.
After 27 minutes, Julian Alvarez equalized for City thanks to the great Jack Grealish, who made a critical intervention on Salah when Liverpool had the potential to extend their lead.
53 seconds after the half, City took the lead thanks to an assist from Alvarez. His raking pass found Riyad Mahrez, who then crossed for Kevin de Bruyne to score at the back post.
In an unfamiliar position that required him to move into midfield but also drop back into defense when necessary, John Stones gave a masterful performance. With Manchester City in complete control, Ilkay Gundogan added the third goal following a fight in the goalmouth.
Grealish earned a goal, which he duly scored in the 74th minute when he came just in time to turn in a cross from De Bruyne as Liverpool finished downed and exhausted.
