Manchester City 22 game unbeaten run came to an end in a fixture and stadium that the dreaded. City coming into these fixture where on a 4 game consecutive away losses at the Anfield though boasted by their 22 game unbeaten run in the current league season and a 30-game unbeaten streak in the division.
The departure of Philippe Coutinho further increased their chances of getting something as the Brazilian have dominated the previous encounters heavily.
The Brazilian contribution of 20 goals in the previous fixtures brought element of doubts among the analyst, critics and supporters of the chances of Liverpool taking something out of the fixture but it was cleared as early Nine minutes as Oxlade-Chamberlain repaid the faith the manager placed in him by a display of power, pace and precision all in one to draw first blood and bring the stadium to life. Liverpool were organized defensive and deserved there advantage.
City equalized before the interval thanks strings of defensive errors.
Joe Gomez miscalculation of Kyle Walker’s cross field pass gifted Leroy Sane a chance and German made no mistake as he cut back Gomez and Matip before drilling the ball beyond Karius to bring the score to level. Liverpool began the second half in an offensive mode though lucky when Otamendi hit the woodwork from the corner kick. They were finally rewarded on 59-minutes as Firminho shrugs off Stones in a through ball that was initiated by Oxlade-Chamberlain to chip Elderson and restore leadfor the reds. The second goal being the catalyst that destroys the City’s perfect arrangement. Liverpool should have scored the 3rd goal immediately but Mane’s effort hit the wood work. Mane finally had his goal 20 seconds later as City defense lost its cool with strings of error. Mohammed Salah did not miss out as he scored his 19 league goal of the season for Liverpool thanks to a poor clearance from Elderson whose night grew from bad to worse. City pulled 2 back through the Bernado Silva and Iker Gundogan but Liverpool held there nerve to end the invincible dominance of Pep Guardiola in the league.
The win takes Liverpool to 3rd place and 15 points below city. The result means that City is yet to grab a point from this fixture in 5 consecutive meetings and this is an issue the club will need to resolve.