Dominant City up to second after sensational Liverpool win
Baku, November 10, AZERTAC
City defeated champions Liverpool 3-0 as Pep Guardiola savoured the winning feeling in his 1,000th game in management.
According to the official website of Manchester United, Erling Haaland opened the scoring just shy of the half hour mark, thumping home a header, with every outfield player touching the ball in a build-up that perfectly summed up the grace and style that Guardiola has brought to the Blues in his near 10-year spell.
Nico doubled our lead in first half stoppage time with a powerful drive which nicked off Virgil van Dijk on the way through.
And Jeremy Doku – Player of the Match after a simply dazzling display on his 100th City appearance – made it three with a curled effort into the corner.
The three-point haul moved us up a place from third to second, leapfrogging Chelsea to go four points behind leaders Arsenal.
The victory also represented Guardiola’s 716th win as a manager, a quite remarkable achievement from a truly remarkable man.
As Pep Guardiola faced the cameras moments before the start of this milestone game, he was asked what he’d be doing after his 1,000th match as a manager.
He said he would either be celebrating or sleeping, depending on the result. Thankfully for everyone of Blue persuasion, it looks like he’ll be enjoying a few glasses of wine rather than 40 winks.
City started this much-anticipated encounter in electric fashion, dominating proceedings and attacking at will against the visitors.
In those opening exchanges, the effervescent Jeremy Doku earned a penalty for the Blues when he was clipped by Giorgi Mamardashvili but Erling Haaland had his spot kick saved by the Georgian goalkeeper who dived to his left to stop.
Hitman Haaland wasn’t to be denied though and opened the scoring with a thumping headed goal just shy of the half hour mark from a sensational ball from the right by Matheus Nunes.
The finish was wonderful but the move itself, as every City outfield player touched the ball in the build-up, was quite frankly a thing of beauty and a perfect demonstration of the astonishing brand of football Pep Guardiola has brought to Manchester as he got to truly celebrate his 1,000th game in the dugout.
There was momentary anxiety when Virgil van Dijk wheeled away to revel in an equaliser but Andy Robertson, standing in an offside position and in line with the Dutchman’s header as it flew in, was flagged by the assistant.
With the clock ticking down to half-time, Guardiola’s relentless Blues pushed for a second and were rewarded for their effort and endeavour, the ever-improving Nico blasting home, with a deflection off Liverpool skipper van Dijk on the way through the crowd.
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