Manchester City Cruise Past Liverpool 3-0 At Etihad With Haaland On Target

Pep Guardiola marked his 1,000th managerial game in style as Manchester City dismantled Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.

In a clash between two sides chasing Premier League leaders Arsenal, City dominated from start to finish, cutting the Gunners’ lead to just four points.

Erling Haaland, continuing his phenomenal scoring run, set the tone with his 28th goal of the season for club and country. Earlier, he had a penalty saved by Liverpool keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili after being fouled by the goalkeeper for bringing down Jeremy Doku, but Haaland made amends in the 29th minute with a towering header from Matheus Nunes’ cross, completing a slick passing move. It marked his first goal against Liverpool in a match featuring Virgil van Dijk.

Liverpool thought they had equalised before the break when Van Dijk headed in Mohamed Salah’s corner, but the goal was disallowed for offside after Andy Robertson inadvertently blocked City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s line of sight.

City added a second in first-half stoppage time when Nico Gonzalez’s 20-yard strike deflected off Van Dijk, wrong-footing Mamardashvili.

After the interval, Doku continued to terrorise Liverpool’s backline, particularly Conor Bradley, and produced a moment of magic to seal the win. The Belgian winger curled a stunning 20-yard shot beyond Mamardashvili to make it 3-0, putting Guardiola’s milestone game firmly beyond doubt.