Liverpool. Not much time for anyone to make a further impression.Liverpool fans. The home end emptying.Liverpool want a third. Salah is buzzing all over the place. He wants this done, so he can get the contract he wants. Perhaps that’s a bit of projection but much to be decided beyond the pitch at the club.Liverpool were celebrating as if the title was won, but now have to right themselves.Liverpool spring into action. Though instead of the wildcat attack they choose patience. Salah and Szoboszlai attempt a switch-back but it’s cleared. Poor Khusanov is being thrown from the deepest of ends.Liverpool set off at speed. Salah attempts to shoot with the outside of his boot. He scored like that at Bournemouth. Was it a cross? Robertson hoiks it back over and City eventually clear.Liverpool staying in defensive shape, Marmoush having the ball headed away by a towering Konate.Liverpool lost a game they were 2-0 up was Bournemouth in 2016. I was there, one hell of a rewrite required.Liverpool players than his City teammates.”
Peter Oh: “Is Noel Gallagher in the house? It must be so hard for him to watch City Slide Away. He’ll be doing the Poznan of disgust if this keeps up.”
Liverpool have 11 points on Arsenal.Liverpool.Liverpool retaining possession. Slot-ball in action, reminiscent of the 1980s, sans backpass. The City fans are getting through much booing.Liverpool. Diaz out to Salah, reverse pass to Trent, and Ake clears in desperation. Mac Allister takes the corner. Konate can’t get to it.Liverpool are overloading him. Getting men across to him. Twice, his crosses are blocked. He’s also a little hesitant to hit the byline.
26 min: Salah, with power and vision, almost sends away Diaz. As Gary Neville says on the Sky broadcast, he is better than ever. Untouchable this season, nobody even close.
24 min: Gene Salorio: “Watching DeBruyne reminds me, sadly, of Modric in the 4-0 semi-final drubbing City handed Real Madrid in 2023. Great player but clearly not at the level needed against that opponent, still good enough to play a role at the top but not as a central element of the team.”
Modric scored a fine goal today. But, the point stands. KDB may not see the second half at this rate.
23 min: A rare move down the left and Diaz just overdoes it. City clear hurriedly. Nunez and Jota are sat on the bench, Darwin chewing and looking a bit sulky.
22 min: Salah, seemingly annoyed by Doku’s dancing, runs back to concede a corner. That’s poor from Marmoush as Alexander-Arnold clears. Eventually, off the left, Marmoush has a shot. No problem for Alisson.
21 min: Doku on a gallop, past Alexander-Arnold, and then attempting a pass inwards to Foden. That overload attempted again and again. City appear to lack sophistication. Has Pep been spending too much time with Neil Warnock?
19 min: Chris gets in touch: “If one had to summarize the decline of Kevin de Bruyne’s play in one moment, you could do worse than showing a replay of that attempted pass to a wide open Doku that went to TAA instead shortly before the goal.”
He’s always been a player of percentages and risks. Now it’s a risk playing him. Sad, because at his best there have been few to compare.
17 min: Now, can City respond? The wounded animal or the busted flush? Arne Slot is watching replays of the goal. Well-worked, to say the least.
16 min: City can’t say they weren’t warned. Salah is the best in the business and they allowed themselves to lose possession and then let him go at a corner. That’s poor.
15 min: It came off Ake but that was quick-thinking by Szoboszlai, who smashes over to Salah. You know the rest. His 30th of the season, the talisman strikes.
Yes, guess who.
Source: theguardian.com
