1 December 2024
Liverpool 2 Man City 0
This was the one everyone had been waiting for. The stand-out game when the Premier League fixtures are released. No longer did Pep Guardiola have Jurgen Klopp to take on, Arne Slot had now taken over that mantle. His Reds’ side had opened up an eight-point gap on their rivals in the league and this added that much more to this encounter, the chance of an eleven point lead.
Things have not being going very Pep-like for City of late. The defending champions had lost their last three Premier League games and came into this game devoid of confidence. The pressure was well and truly on Man City. Anfield is not a ground they have fond memories of, making this the ultimate test of their title credentials this time around.
Slot’s side looked to pile the pressure on from the outset. Szoboszlai fired off the first shot on target but it was beaten away by Ortega. He turned provider moments later as he picked out van Dijk at the back post. His towering header drew a fingertip save from the German keeper, as it hit the far post and came back into play. So close to Liverpool breaking the deadlock.
Salah was then allowed too much space on the right as Akanji backed off him. He whipped a teasing ball across the six-yard box for the arriving Gakpo to slot home to give The Reds the lead. Playing five at the back, Man City looked even more out of sorts than normal. No one seemed to know where they should be when Liverpool came on the attack.
Moments later, a long ball over the top had the visitors stretched. Just as it seemed Salah was going to ghost through to score, Ake got an important sliding challenge in to win the ball and put it out for a corner. As the subsequent cross came in, van Dijk won another free header. Only he will know how he didn’t score as his effort fizzed just wide of the far post.
At this stage you wondered whether Liverpool would pay the price for all these missed chances at some point. Man City had not been in the game whatsoever but they had enough quality on the pitch to punish you if a chance finally fell their way. It started to create a slight air of nervousness amongst the crowd. The Reds needed a second goal.
The visitors started to find their feet a little more and string a series of passes together. As they edged towards the Liverpool goal, Lewis found himself a little space but no more than toe-poked an effort at goal. It went wide of the target but had Kelleher at full stretch as Man City still looked to register their first shot on target in this game.
After the interval City seemed to have upped their levels. Silva and Walker exchanged passes before the Portuguese midfielder looked to lift one over Kelleher. It went harmlessly out of play but showed some sort of intent from Guardiola’s side. The visitors were seeing a lot of possession but seemed clueless how to create opportunities from these moments.
As Bernardo Silva dwelled on the ball in midfield, he was immediately dispossessed. Salah ran clean through on goal with only Ortega to beat. The Egyptian winger looked to lift the ball over the advancing keeper but his effort went just over the crossbar. That was another big chance that had gone begging for Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
Liverpool’s midfield three were controlling the game. More importantly, they were winning possession back from the visitors regularly. The high-tempo press had Man City in all sorts of problems. One such instance led to Salah running towards goal but as he fired a shot off, he cut across it and sliced it wide of the target once again.
Then Man City hit the self-destruct button. Nunes was robbed of the ball and Walker then lost it as Liverpool pressed forward. Diaz ran clean through on goal but as he took it around Ortega, the keeper took him down. The referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot and the VAR review offered nothing to suggest otherwise.
As the visitors kept on arguing with the referee, Salah stood by the penalty spot doing keep-ups with the ball. When it was finally time to take the penalty, he swept it into the bottom corner of the goal. Despite guessing right, Ortega could get nowhere near it. Anfield erupted as they finally put some distance between themselves and the defending champions.
At this point the Liverpool fans started singing ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ to Pep Guardiola. He saw the funny side to it before then gesturing ‘six’ to them, referring to the number of Premier League titles he has won. This was certainly not going to be a day to remember for the Spaniard when it comes to writing his autobiography.
In the closing stages of the game, van Dijk got caught on the ball and De Bruyne was through one-on-one with Kelleher. As he looked to slot it through the legs of the keeper, the Irishman managed to block and dive on the ball at the second attempt. And with that missed chance, all hope of Man City getting something from this game evaporated.
At this point, we see the main difference between Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot. Liverpool almost closed up shop and started to ensure they held on to the scoreline. They look more solid and capable to see games out. One thing is for sure, they were deserved winners at Anfield and could have scored a lot more. Most importantly, they are now eleven points clear of City in the table.
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