Years of repressed revenge claimed in a week. In a matter of days, the Liverpool has settled his pending accounts with Real Madrid, whom he dynamited in the Champions League (2-0), and with Manchester Citywhich they have surpassed to put them 11 points ahead in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory.
Los redsafter ending their bete noire in Europe during the week, took revenge on the team that beat them in two leagues by one point, aggravating the crisis of a Pep Guardiola who has not won in the last seven games (six defeats and one draw) and that he went out to Anfield with a scared team.
Liverpool smelled of blood. He knew that Manchester City is hurt, touched, overwhelmed by an unprecedented situation for Guardiola's team. He went out to run over him, to eat him, to put pressure on every ball he put on the floor. Stefan Ortega and to harass the center backs so that they did not have time to string together passes.
Al City It took him twenty minutes to cross from his own field and in that time Liverpool were able to score goals. Virgil Van Dijk He ran into a stick in a header and another, minutes later, went off, grazing a post. Between his two heads appeared Salah to agree with those who ask for its renewal. The Egyptian, “more inside than outside”, in his words, faced his pair and put a cross-shot at the far post so that Steel will launch and finish the play. Even though the goal was from the Dutch, the stands sang for Salah, their Egyptian king who may have his last months at Anfield.
The goal did not wake up City, rarely as lost as this Sunday, and Trent Alexander-Arnoldwho was returning after three weeks out due to injury, also touched a post with a shot from outside the area. With a little more aim, Liverpool should have left this match dead at half-time. It was his chance to avenge all the leagues that City took from him by a minimal difference.
In the second part, Arne Slot's team continued to forgive. Salah had two chances for the double, including a one-on-one against Stefan Ortega who incomprehensibly sent over the crossbar, while Alexander-Arnold had the 2-0 blocked from point-blank range. Cody Gakpo couldn't either, setting up Kyle Walker and shooting into the German goalkeeper's hands, in what was his last chance before being replaced by Darwin Núñez.
In this match, Slot chose to use Luis Díaz as '9', in the position in which he scored a hat trick against Bayer Leverkusen, and the Colombian responded when he returned to the left wing, already with Darwin as a reference. He stole a ball in the pressure, faced Ortega and was knocked down by the German. Clear penalty and Salahfrom the eleven-meter point, said it very clearly: “You have to renew me.”
Liverpool will not be able to find a better occupant for their right wing than the Egyptian, the player who has generated the most goals (18) in this Premier League and a differential footballer, no matter how much his contract runs out and I'm already on my way to 33 years old.
With this victory, Liverpool have eleven points over Guardiola's team, nine over Chelsea and Arsenal, who are currently their direct pursuers. What seemed like a challenge for Guardiola is now, above all, a problem. Only two teams have overcome such a difference in the Premier, Arsenal and Manchester United in the nineties.
Guardiola finished the match with chants of “they're going to fire you in the morning” and reminding the fans red who has won six Premier Leagues since arriving at City, for one from Liverpool. The fans dedicated 'olés' to him in every possession of his team.
