Key events
Full time: Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool
City move to within four points of Arsenal after a surprisingly easy victory over Liverpool. Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and the magnificent Jeremy Doku scored the goals, while Haaland also had a penalty saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili at 0-0.
Liverpool were sluggish and subdued, though they might have equalised at 1-1 when Virgil van Dijk’s header was disallowed for offside against Andy Robertson. City were much the better team overall.
90+1 min Szoboszlai leaves a bit on Foden – “gives him one” says Gary Neville – and is booked.
90 min There will be three minutes of added nothingness.
89 min Jones fouls Savinho and is booked.
89 min The title race is still on. The race for the golden boot, not so much.
87 min O’Reilly shoots wide of the near post from a tight angle.
85 min “Liverpool absolutely winning the transfer window looks now like a midlife crisis spending spree,” writes Niall Mullen. “The sports car turned out to be an old banger, the leather jacket disintegrated in the rain and the new young partner is nowhere to be found having nicked your watch and seemingly mistaken your trainers for a toilet.”
83 min: Double substitution for Liverpool Federico Chiesa and Joe Gomez replace Florian Wirtz and Conor Bradley, who in different ways had very tough afternoons. Wirtz struggled to get in the game; Bradley struggled to keep Jeremy Doku out of it.
82 min: Great chance for City! Foden waves a gorgeous square pass to find O’Reilly in space on the edge of the area. He takes a touch and blooters over the bar.
79 min: Big chance for Salah! For the first time Salah gets the wrong side of O’Reilly and runs through on goal. He flicks the bouncing ball around Donnarumma and just wide of the far post.
78 min A Liverpool corner is half cleared and then headed back into the area by Bradley. Van Dijk is first to the ball but overruns it and Donnarumma dives at his feet.
Liverpool have had a flurry of corners in the last few minutes – but only one shot on target all game, that sizzler from Szoboszlai a moment ago.
76 min Szoboszlai roasts a rising drive from 25 yards that is pawed round the post by the diving Donnarumma. It was fairly central but beautifully hit.
74 min: Liverpool substitution Curtis Jones on for Alexis Mac Allister.
Marmoush, just on for City, has a shot blocked by Bradley in the D.
74 min: City substitution Omar Marmoush replaces Jeremy Doku, who receives a standing ovation from the home fans. There will be few more exhilarating individual performances all season.
73 min “Always a classic…” is the subject of Matt Dony’s email, which reads thus: “Can Arne Slot bring on Dietmar Hamann?”
72 min Szoboszlai does beat O’Reilly and slides an inviting cross that is turned behind for a corner by Nunes.
72 min Salah’s cross/pass is cut out by O’Reilly, who has had the better of that battle so far.
68 min Liverpool are facing a fourth successive league defeat away from home; the last time that happened was in 2011-12.
67 min That goal was perfectly timed for City, who were under a bit of pressure for the first time in the match. Doku has been unplayable all day.
65 min City will move up to second with this result, four points behind Arsenal. Liverpool are currently eighth, below Manchester United on goals scored.
Doku has been the player of the match by a country mile. Nico Gonzalez started the move with a crossfield pass to O’Reilly, who knocked the ball back to Doku in the inside-left channel. He fronted up Konate on the edge of the area, shuffled to the right and whacked an unstoppable curler into the far corner. Glorious goal.
GOAL! Man City 3-0 Liverpool (Doku 63)
Jeremy Doku caps a sensational performance with a quite brilliant goal!
62 min Liverpool have been better in the second half, if still well short of the best, and City aren’t keeping the ball any more. A goal would make things really interesting.
59 min: Big chance for Gakpo! Salah plays in the underlapping Bradley, who fires a beautiful first-time ball across the six-yard box. It bounces up to Gakpo at the far post, but he can’t sort his feet out and sends the ball into orbit. That’s Liverpool’s best chance.
58 min Florian Wirtz is now playing up front for Liverpool with Gakpo on the left. Alexander Isak is on the bench, though he only returned to training on Friday.
57 min Nico Gonzalez almost does a Tommy Hutchison by scoring at. both ends. Bradley hammered a cross that Gonzalez, trying to clear, shanked onto the roof of his own net.
56 min: Double substituton for Liverpool Milos Kerkez and Cody Gakpo replace Andy Robertson and Hugo Ekitike.
I forgot to say that it’s pelting down at the Etihad.
55 min Doku zig-zags beautifully between Bradley and Gravenberch before lifting a shot that is comfortably saved by Mamardashvili. He’s been sensational.
54 min “As an Arsenal fan, I was looking for the draw, but not too bad with City winning,” writes David Penney. “I feel as soon as Haaland is injured this season, City will drop a lot of points.”
53 min: Man City substitution Savinho replaces Rayan Cherki, who has had a relatively quiet game.
51 min The magnificent Doku covers 70 yards on the break and finds Cherki, whose shot from 15 yards is blocked. Bradley is booked for a foul on somebody in the build-up, either Doku or Nico Gonzalez.
50 min Donnarumma comes charging out of his area for no particular reason and is very lucky that Ruben Dias slides in to knock the ball away from both him and Mo Salah. No need for Donnarumma to come out then.
49 min “To précis a great quote from a great man,” begins Niall Mullen, and I think we all know where this is heading, “‘There’s no shame in losing, but plenty in losing shite.’ Slot is meticulous but it seems he hasn’t read the complete works of Peter Reid.””
47 min At the other end, the impressive O’Reilly fizzes a low cross that only just evades Doku in front of goal
47 min “Just caught up with the preamble and the simpering reference to a ‘vaguely competent’ Haaland and felt compelled to add my ten pence worth about how over hyped he is,” writes Brian Withington. “Take away the goals, defensive headers and the marauding terror he induces in the opposition and what are we really left with?”
46 min A bit of early pressure from Liverpool, with Bradley and then Salah having shots blocked.
46 min City begin the second half – no substitutions on either side.
Half time: Man City 2-0 Liverpool
Pep Guardiola’s 1000th game as a manager is going swimmingly. Manchester City have been good rather than spectacular – but they lead Liverpool 2-0 and Erling Haaland has had a penalty saved. Haaland made amends by putting City in front, Virgil van Dijk had an equaliser disallowed for a pedantic offside and then deflected Nico Gonzalez’s long-range shot past Giorgi Mamaradashvili.
45+6 min Gary Neville is putting the boot in on Liverpool – he says they look “leggy”, have “lost every single battle” and put in a “worrying performance”.
45+5 min “Ok, I accept that Mike Dean knows more than me,” begins Matt Dony, “but reading Law 11: Offside on the FA website, I can’t see how Robertson was offside. He made no attempt to play the ball, no movement towards the ball, didn’t interfere with any City players’ ability to play the ball or challenge any of them, and wasn’t in Donnarumma’s line of sight. I don’t know what’s going on any more.”
One City corner led to another, this time on the left. It was taken short and worked infield to Nico Gonzalez, whose low drive from 25 yards hit Van Dijk – who waved a lazy right leg – and wrongfooted Mamardashvili.
GOAL! Man City 2-0 Liverpool (Nico 45+3)
A hammer blow to Liverpool on the stroke of half-time.
45+2 min Bernardo Silva finds Cherki, who clips a cross that is headed behind by Van Dijk. It’s been a strange half, lacking the intensity we usually see in this fixture.
45 min The VAR checks and a couple of bits of treatment mean there will be seven minutes of added time.
45 min “In two minds about that disallowed goal,” writes Joshua Keeling. “Under the letter of the law it’s technically correct – he was in an offside position and he ducked under the ball. But at the same time, Donnarumma wasn’t getting to that header. So I’m on the fence.”
Yeah, it’s a tough one because there was no material impact on the goal.
42 min Wirtz has a shot blocked at source after a smart turn just inside the City area. This is Liverpool’s best spell.
41 min Bernardo Silva is booked for tripping someone.
Van Dijk’s goal is disallowed
39 min Van Dijk beat Donnarumma with a majestic header from a corner. Robertson – in an offside position three yards from goal – ducked to allow the ball to go over him and into the net. He wasn’t in Donnarumma’s eyeline, nor did he impede his dive – but Mike Dean, on Sky, says it was the correct decision in accordance with the current interpretation of the law.
Arne Slot does not concur.
Virgil van Dijk thinks he’s equalised for Liverpool – but there’s a VAR check…
36 min Mac Allister trips Doku and is booked.
35 min Given City’s occasional susceptibility to counter-attacks, the decision to pick Wirtz ahead of Cody Gakpo probably wasn’t the best. Then again, I can’t imagine Arne Slot expected his team to have so little of the ball in the first 35 minutes.
32 min Liverpool, strangely passive in possession at 0-0, will have to come out and play now.
30 min That goal ultimately stemmed from some excellent one-touch passing/escapology from City when they were surrounded by Liverpool players in their own half.
Erling Haaland heads City in front. It was a slightly odd goal: the right-back Nunes curled a standard cross to the far post, where Konate and Haaland challenged for the header. The ball brushed Konate’s head, hit Haaland a millisecond later and looped slowly into the net. No idea how much Haaland knew about it. He won’t care, nor should he.
