Pep Guardiola’s Side Suffer First Defeat after Mo Salah Winner and Fuming Jurgen Klopp is Sent Off
- 2 years ago
JURGEN KLOPP claims Liverpool "cannot compete" with state-owned clubs like Manchester City - but Mo Salah proved him wrong with a late Anfield winner.
Pep Guardiola’s champions suffered their first defeat in 21 Premier League matches and surrendered a four-point deficit to Arsenal at the top of the table after their own Phil Foden ‘opener’ was ruled out by VAR.
Salah, who netted the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history in the midweek demolition of Rangers, netted a cool breakaway goal from an assist by keeper Alisson, as the Reds put a miserable start to their league campaign behind them.
Just minutes before Salah’s strike, fourth official Andy Madley had incorrectly put up Salah’s No 11, when Klopp was making a double substitution.
Salah looked agog until Klopp told him it had been an error - and the Egyptian was soon netting his first Premier League goal since August, having missed an earlier one-on-one opportunity.
Guardiola had been fuming after Foden’s effort, early in the second half, was correctly ruled out for a shirt-tug by Erling Haaland on Fabinho.
And Klopp was sent off late on by ref Anthony Taylor after Bernardo Silva tangled with Salah and tempers boiled over.
City have not won at Anfield, in front of a crowd, for 19 years and even though they arrived on Merseyside 13 points clear of their perennial title rivals, they deserved this victory.
Klopp had claimed Liverpool "could not compete" with City’s finances but he probably never doubted that they were still capable of defeating them in a one-off match.
The Anfield boss had dropped his captain Jordan Henderson and employed the 36-year-old James Milner at right-back with Trent Alexander-Arnold only fit enough to start on the bench.
City did not look like themselves early on - not wearing sky blue for no apparent reason, and showing signs of edginess in and out of possession.
Liverpool were far more like their old selves, the classic Klopp high-energy, high-tempo high-pressing unit.
Salah was menacing, clearly fancying himself against Nathan Ake at left-back.
Scoring chances were scarce - Ilkay Gundogan had a shot comfortably saved by Allison and Diogo Jota headed straight at Ederson after a chipped cross from Harvey Elliott.
Then Milner, who had made a cracking start, surged forward and saw his cross pushed out by Ederson, with Andy Robertson skying a shot he might easily have scored from.
City were beginning to control possession and Liverpool, as Guardiola had predicted before kick-off, were not averse to punting it long.
Haaland had been lurking ominously, like a dorsal fin in shallow waters, but he narrowly failed to lob Alisson, then headed over from one De Bruyne centre and headed straight at Alisson from another.
It had been a feisty first 45 minutes, ref Anthony Taylor unfussy and helping the game flow, but neither side were able to find an opener.
Five minutes into the second half, Salah was presented with the best opportunity of the ma
Pep Guardiola’s champions suffered their first defeat in 21 Premier League matches and surrendered a four-point deficit to Arsenal at the top of the table after their own Phil Foden ‘opener’ was ruled out by VAR.
Salah, who netted the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history in the midweek demolition of Rangers, netted a cool breakaway goal from an assist by keeper Alisson, as the Reds put a miserable start to their league campaign behind them.
Just minutes before Salah’s strike, fourth official Andy Madley had incorrectly put up Salah’s No 11, when Klopp was making a double substitution.
Salah looked agog until Klopp told him it had been an error - and the Egyptian was soon netting his first Premier League goal since August, having missed an earlier one-on-one opportunity.
Guardiola had been fuming after Foden’s effort, early in the second half, was correctly ruled out for a shirt-tug by Erling Haaland on Fabinho.
And Klopp was sent off late on by ref Anthony Taylor after Bernardo Silva tangled with Salah and tempers boiled over.
City have not won at Anfield, in front of a crowd, for 19 years and even though they arrived on Merseyside 13 points clear of their perennial title rivals, they deserved this victory.
Klopp had claimed Liverpool "could not compete" with City’s finances but he probably never doubted that they were still capable of defeating them in a one-off match.
The Anfield boss had dropped his captain Jordan Henderson and employed the 36-year-old James Milner at right-back with Trent Alexander-Arnold only fit enough to start on the bench.
City did not look like themselves early on - not wearing sky blue for no apparent reason, and showing signs of edginess in and out of possession.
Liverpool were far more like their old selves, the classic Klopp high-energy, high-tempo high-pressing unit.
Salah was menacing, clearly fancying himself against Nathan Ake at left-back.
Scoring chances were scarce - Ilkay Gundogan had a shot comfortably saved by Allison and Diogo Jota headed straight at Ederson after a chipped cross from Harvey Elliott.
Then Milner, who had made a cracking start, surged forward and saw his cross pushed out by Ederson, with Andy Robertson skying a shot he might easily have scored from.
City were beginning to control possession and Liverpool, as Guardiola had predicted before kick-off, were not averse to punting it long.
Haaland had been lurking ominously, like a dorsal fin in shallow waters, but he narrowly failed to lob Alisson, then headed over from one De Bruyne centre and headed straight at Alisson from another.
It had been a feisty first 45 minutes, ref Anthony Taylor unfussy and helping the game flow, but neither side were able to find an opener.
Five minutes into the second half, Salah was presented with the best opportunity of the ma