No wonder Pep was rattled... he knows City blew a big chance to flex their title muscles and silence everyone
THERE was a nice irony about Trent Alexander-arnold putting a finger to his lips and shushing the Etihad crowd after his point-earning strike. The Etihad crowd did not need shushing – there had barely been a peep out of them all afternoon. He was silencing the silent. Save for the moment Alisson gifted Erling Haaland his 50th Premier League goal, rarely can a so-called crunch fixture have been so crushingly quiet. Much to Pep Guardiola’s annoyance. At an early stage of the second half – and at several points during its entirety – Guardiola turned to look at the crowd... sorry, turned to look FOR the crowd. The punters were there, but only in person.
Don’t think, for one minute, City loyalists are any less passionate than any other fans – they are not. But this was an afternoon of City complacency, an afternoon of failing to rise to the occasion and operating on autopilot.
Never mind what he said afterwards, that is why Guardiola was furious during the match, that anger spilling over into the contretemps with Darwin Nunez. Pep will know this was an opportunity missed, a chance to put down a marker squandered, a psychological opening they failed to walk through.
In a casual, sloppy way, his Treble-winning team blew it.
But when you have won 23 home games on the bounce, the buffers of complacency are bound to be struck soon.
And that was certainly the case here – in the stands, on the field.
Apart from those in the visiting pen, there was, at half-time, probably no one who thought the champions would not go on and see out another victory. After all,
at least Haaland’s hunger looks unlikely to ever be sated.
Alisson was at double-fault for the City breakthrough, following his horrible sliced clearance by failing to keep out a scuff that he could have thrown his cap on.
But Haaland was alive to the possibilities, is always alive to the possibilities, and if he can get a better handle on Jeremy Doku’s game at some stage, it could be a very profitable link-up.
Getting a handle on Doku’s intentions, though, will take some doing. He is like a Belgian Peter Beagrie, with a lot more pace.
Doku was somehow given the man-of-the-match award by the local sponsors, but you could file this as a frustrating instalment of his formative City career.
It was actually typical of how this pretty mundane match panned out that Doku and Haaland almost combined for a City second just moments before Alexander-arnold’s leveller.
In fact, Alexander-arnold had spent a large part of this contest having his blood twisted by Doku, but, fortunately for Jurgen Klopp, his vice-captain also has ice in his veins. There is probably no calmer, cooler outfield operator in
the Premier League, his sweet take and finish meaning there have now been six draws between Klopp and Guardiola, with the former winning 12 times and the latter 11.
The Liverpool star is still getting to grips with his hybrid role, but the prospect of him convincing Gareth Southgate to field a more adventurous midfield system remains an exciting one.
After his nice hit, Alexanderarnold still had more defending to do as Doku continued his eccentric, if exciting, time on the left flank. But in a performance
that was considerably out of kilter with their norm, City’s end product was noticeable by its absence.
That is why Guardiola became more animated – with his players, with his bench, with his crowd, with the officials, eventually with Nunez.
Liverpool had been nowhere near their threatening, aggressive best and Guardiola’s men had failed to flex familiar title muscles. No wonder Pep shouted. But on a day when the biggest club game in current Premier League football went off with a whimper, at least someone made a noise.