Liverpool FC received a thrashing on their visit to the Etihad Stadium with the incoming Premier League champions losing 4-0 to the outgoing Premier League champions Manchester City FC. A shambolic overall performance from the Reds was subjected to a wonderful display of attacking prowess from the hosts.
Jurgen Klopp fielded an unchanged side that won 4-0 at Anfield against Crystal Palace last week. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola dropped Riyad Mahrez in favor of Phil Foden. Also, youngster Eric Garcia was favored to John Stones as the center-back along with Aymeric Laporte.
Before the commencement of the game, Manchester City FC players gave a guard of honor to the newly crowned Premier League champions that were led by Jordan Henderson onto the pitch.
The game’s opening ten minutes saw chances from both sides on either side of the goal. Mohammad Salah forced a good save out of Manchester City FC goalkeeper Ederson. On the other end, Gabriel Jesus has narrowly judged offside after the Brazilian slotted the ball past Alisson.
Salah again threatened Ederson with an angled low shot that struck the post. However, when the ball fell upon the rebound to Sadio Mane, the Senegalese could not maintain his composure.
Raheem Sterling’s turn in the box forced Reds center-half Joe Gomez to grab his national teammate’s shirt. Referee Anthony Taylor adjudged Gomez’s action to be a foul and awarded a penalty to the hosts. Belgian talisman Kevin de Bruyne completely sent Alisson the wrong way and gave the lead to Manchester City FC.
With Pep Guardiola’s side looking to make the most of the defensive errors of the Reds, Phil Foden found Sterling with a neat pass. The former Liverpool FC attacker took a touch before scoring past Alisson to double the lead for the hosts.
The dying moments of the first-half added time saw Foden get on the scoresheet and continue his recent form in front of goal. The English starlet received a wonderful pass from De Bruyne before striking the ball fiercely past the helpless Alisson.
The second half started with the usual sense of ruthlessness on Manchester City FC’s part. The hosts looked in no mood to tone down their attacking aggression.
The fourth goal for Manchester City FC was soon added when Sterling’s effort on goal was turned in by Liverpool FC substitute Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. The scoreline wrapped up the game in the favour of the hosts and it did not seem as if the Reds were in a position to stage a heroic comeback.
Riyad Mahrez’s goal in the last kick of the game was ruled out by VAR, with Foden seem to have had handled the ball. The final whistle was soon blown by Anthony Taylor that resulted in a massive win on part of Manchester City FC.
It was a very poor performance from Jurgen Klopp’s side on the day who looked out of sorts on every area of the pitch. The Reds will now play hosts to Aston Villa FC at Anfield on 5th July.
MATCH STATS
SCORE: 4-0
Possession: Manchester City FC- 51% Liverpool FC- 49%
Yellow Cards: Manchester City FC- 2 Liverpool FC- 2
Shots: Manchester City FC- 12 Liverpool FC- 11
Offsides: Manchester City FC- 3 Liverpool FC- 2
