Demolition at Anfield: Gundogan and Allison join forces to beat Liverpool 4-1

The king is dead, long live the king! And the new king will probably be the old king – Manchester City! After destroying current champions Liverpool at Anfield 1-4, Pep Guardiola’s men are at the top of the table with 10 points more than the Reds, five points more than United, and seven points more than Leicester, with a game in hand! And the way City is playing at the moment, nobody will catch them.

Citizens are the best team in the Premier League right now, and they are in terrific form: 14 wins in a row, eight consecutive away wins in all competition and only two defeats in the league. And they have done that without De Bryne and Aguero. When they lost both players due to injuries and Covid-19 a couple of games ago, Guardiola had to find another pair of life saviors and he found them – Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden. And tonight, they were just brilliant, the first scoring two goals and the second scoring one and assisting with another goal.

Man City not only increased their lead at the top of the table but also defeated Liverpool at Anfield, the first time since 2003. This is also Liverpool’s third home defeat in a row, which hasn't’ happened since the days of Bill Shankly - in 1963! Of course, it would be rude not to mention one special Liverpool player – goalkeeper Allison. The Reds number 1 made some unbelievable mistakes and was directly responsible for City’s third and fourth goal. 

When the game started, nobody could predict this score. As we have seen so many times this season when two great teams meet, it was a bit boring first half, with both Liverpool and City too cautious, considering what was at stake. Still, Liverpool had better chances, Mane’s header went wide in the 25th minute, while Firminho’s excellent volley was tipped over by Ederson five minutes later. And then came the penalty for Manchester City. Fabinho was not quick enough to move the leg, Sterling tripped on it, and it was a clear penalty, but Gundogan’s shot went over the bar.

But, the German midfielder didn’t allow himself to be the guilty one, he rose above the penalty shot miss and scored two goals, in the 49th and 73rd minute.

Liverpool managed to equalize with a Salah’s penalty kick in the 63rd minute, but that was it. Soon after, Allison took over with his two terrible mistakes and the game was over.

There are still games to be played and City can hardly keep up with a form like this, but at the moment, they are on course to bring back the trophy to Manchester.

PREMIER LEAGUE - ROUND 23

Saturday

Aston Villa - Arsenal 1-0

/Watkins 2'/

Newcastle - Southampton 3-2

/Willock 16', Bednarek (OG) 26', Almiron 45' - Minamino 36', Ward-Prowse 48'/

Burnley - Brighton 1-1

/Dunk 36' - Gudmunddson 53'/

Fulham - West Ham 0-0

Manchester United - Everton 3-3

/Cavani 24', Bruno 45', McTominay 70' - Doucure 49', Rodriguez 52', Calwert-Lewin 90+5'

Sunday

Tottenham - WBA 2-0

/Kane 54', Son 58'/

Wolverhampton - Leicester City 0:0

Liverpool - Manchester City 1-3

/Salah 63' (p) - Gundogan 49', 73', Sterling 79', Foden 83'/

22:15 (6.75)Sheffield United (4.10) Chelsea(1.52)

Monday

23:00 (1.95)Leeds United (3.50) Crystal Palace(3.90)