A match already decisive for the title? At home, Liverpool today hoped to continue their good momentum and widen the gap with Manchester City by increasing their lead to 11 points after 13 days. For its part, the club coached by Pep Guardiola remained before the match with three consecutive defeats in the league. City therefore showed up at Anfield with the intention of raising the bar and ending their downward spiral. But it was the Reds who imposed the tempo from the start. After a few breakthrough attempts, Dominik Szoboszlai managed to arm a shot from the right, forcing Ortega, established in the Citizens' goal this afternoon, to 'interpose with the left hand (11th).
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A few seconds later, Liverpool logically took the advantage. Positioned in the center, Alexander-Arnold delivered a superb, precise opening towards Salah. The Egyptian controlled, fixed his opponent and crossed with the left. At the far post, Gakpo appeared at full speed and pushed the ball into the back of the goal (12th, 1-0). Almost asphyxiated, Manchester City continued to suffer until the referee's whistle. Alexander-Arnold, in great form, offered himself a great opportunity to double the lead. The player found space on the edge of the area and sent a heavy shot towards the Macunian cage, which finally hit the post (34th). Completely stifled in the first period (only one shot, off target), the Skyblues hoped to quickly regain the initiative and return to the score.
Wrong Liverpool port
They managed to show a better face, and obtained their first corner of the match, after a nice collective action, from the 50th minute of play. Despite this, it was Liverpool who had the biggest opportunity of the game. second half. Starting on the counter, Salah missed in the opponent's area and his attempt went just over the opponent's crossbar (56th). The attacker repeated a few moments later, with a powerful strike which went narrowly to the left of the goal (64th). Faced with another defeat looming, Guardiola decided to bring in Savinho and Doku on the hour mark, to try to destabilize the Reds' defense.
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These changes ultimately had little weight against the tireless Salah. In the 76th minute, Diaz obtained a valuable penalty after being destabilized by Ortega. After missing a penalty against Real Madrid in midweek, Salah rallied and placed his left-footed shot low to the ground, perfectly crossing. Ortega, off to a good start, was unable to do anything and Liverpool took off (78th, 2-0). The Egyptian scored his 11th Premier League goal this season. At the end of the match, Liverpool confirmed their place as leader of the Premier League with 34 points, ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea (25 points). For its part, Manchester City is already seeing its title hopes disappear. The club is thus in 5th position in the championship, with 23 points. A situation that is becoming more and more complicated.
Pub. the 01/12/2024 18:59
– UPDATE 01/12/2024 19:15
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