GAME ON AS SANE IGNITES THE RACE
Leroy ends Klopp unbeaten run to close gap at top
OFF it came, from the inside of the right post. Along the goal line, in at the left post. Ladies and gentlemen, we have what is known as a title race. And a proper one, now the head-to-head meetings of these teams are done. Match by match, weekend by weekend, they will fight each other by proxy.
Maybe Tottenham will chip in, too. It should be grand entertainment. Buckle yourself in.
Leroy Sane was the matchwinner, just at the point when Liverpool looked to have triumphed. Not with victory, but with the draw that kept City at arm’s length.
Seven points is a hefty margin, even in January. But Sane cut the cords on that safety net. His goal sliced Liverpool’s lead to four. Still a good margin, but far from impregnable.
The best team won. City got lucky at times — so did Liverpool here in the Champions League last season — but they deserved the victory. Liverpool had equalised and looked capable of holding out, but an outstanding finish from Sane changed that.
Raheem Sterling ran the ball crossfield and picked out his teammate. Sane saw the opportunity and struck a low, left-foot shot towards the farthest corner. He could not have been more precise. It was a winner worthy of the occasion. City’s performance was, too.
Of course, they remain defensively vulnerable. Liverpool’s equaliser was a classic example of the frailty that has left them playing catch-up this season.
A deep cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold should have been comfortably dealt with at the far post. Instead, Danilo got trapped under it, Andrew Robertson played a chip across the six yard box and Roberto Firmino headed it into an empty net, because Sterling had not spotted his movement.
Late in the game Mo Salah had a shot saved by goalkeeper Emerson and Pep Guardiola nearly talked himself into a seat in the main stand protesting what he considered a push by Jordan Henderson on John Stones in the build-up. Yet Anthony Taylor indulged and City prevailed. Their first goal, from Sergio Aguero, was his 250th for the club and his 37th against one of the ‘big six’ in the league since the start of the 201112 season.
To put that into perspective, Harry Kane has 21, Wayne Rooney 20. What a player he is. What a title race this could be.
More than two years have elapsed since City last went this deep into a league game without a shot at goal. That is what Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool do. They set traps all over the field now.
Not just upfront where the trident of forwards burst through the defensive line with a counterattacking speed that is the match for any team in the world, but at the back, too, where Virgil van Dijk uses his immense game intelligence to sweep, as part of a back four. For 40 minutes Manchester City were impressive and bold without threatening Alisson Becker in Liverpool’s goal.
The final pass went astray or was snaffled by Van Dijk, while Robertson had a fabulous Home International contest with Raheem Sterling on the flank.
And then, in the 40th minute, all that changed. And it was Aguero, as ever, who changed it.
Aguero has played six games at home against Liverpool and scored in every one. Make that seven. He broke the deadlock here with a quite superb goal from a tight angle — the type of defining moment for which goalscorers earn the big bucks.
City must have been wondering how they were going to get past Van Dijk. Aguero had the answer — play against Dejan Lovren.
He improvised brilliantly in the build-up, too. The merest touch from Van Dijk as the pair jostled for a cross sent Aguero to ground, appealing for a penalty.
Referee Taylor was having none of it, but Aguero had an even better idea. He stayed down, in protest, as the ball was cleared and carried around the penalty area by Bernardo Silva.
Only then did Aguero rise as Silva moved into position to recycle. Now he had lost Van Dijk and was up against Lovren when the cross was delivered.
He held it up, turned the Croatian — who is a good defender, but never quite as impermeable as he believes — and fired a shot past Alisson into the roof of the net.
City’s players went beserk, understandably so. They were the underdogs here, such is Liverpool’s form, considered vulnerable, not invincible any longer.
This time last year 20 points separated these two clubs. Coming into this game it was seven, but in Liverpool’s favour. A 27 point swing in 12 months.
Liverpool will feel they could have been well on the way to enhancing that, with better luck before half time.
Not only did they have the chance of the match, City were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men after 31 minutes. Stones was involved in both incidents and will feel slightly blessed, too.
For the first, a Liverpool chance that came against the run of play, or certainly possession, Mo Salah slipped the ball through to Sadio Mane who was left one on one with City goalkeeper Ederson. He finished low, but the ball struck the inside of a post and came out.
Stones reached it first and in his haste to clear, did not notice Ederson recovering to smother the danger.
He tried to smash it away, but found Ederson rather than clear air and suddenly the ball was heading back towards his own goal. Stones cleared it off the line but, technology showed, by the smallest of slivers.
Without assistance, we would still be debating it and the linesman would have been left guessing, making a 50-50 call.
Technology doesn’t yet rule elsewhere on the field, meaning City
got away with one soon after.
Stones played a careless ball to Vincent Kompany who found himself in a 45-55 with Salah, deep in City’s half. Had he lost it, that was the opener. So he lunged. He took the ball, but the Liverpool man, too. No way was he in control.
It could easily have been a red card, but Yellow it was and City’s captain remained.
Was the match better for it? Of course. Was justice done in that moment? Probably not.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3-): Ederson 8; Danilo 7, Stones 6, Kompany 8 (Otamendi 88), Laporte 7 (Walker 85); B Silva 8, Fernandinho 9, D Silva 7 (Gundogan 65, 6); Sterling 7, Aguero 8.5, Sane 9. Subs not used: Muric, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Jesus. Scorers: Aguero 40, Sane 72 Booked: Ederson, Kompany, Laporte, B Silva Manager: Pep Guardiola 9.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 8; AlexanderArnold 8, Lovren 6, Van Djik 8.5, Robertson 8; Milner 6 (Fabinho 57, 6), Henderson 6, Wijnaldum 6 (Sturridge 86); Salah 7, Firmino 7; Mane 7 (Shaqiri 77) Subs not used: Mignolet, Keita, Moreno, Lallana. Scorer: Firmino 64. Booked: Lovren, Wijnaldum. Manager: Jurgen Klopp 7. Referee: Anthony Taylor 7.5 Attendance: 55,000