Two defensive errors in the first half were compounded by a second half penalty as Liverpool went down 3-0 away at the Premier League leaders.
Shortly before kick off Liverpool announced their decision not to appeal against Luis Suarez ban, meaning the Uruguayan playmaker would miss the fixture and the 7 following fixtures.
The reds started with Stewart Downing and Dirk Kuyt as the wide men with Andy Carroll up front.
Liverpool had the early chance. Jordan Henderson fired in a defence splitting pass, but Stewart Downing’s tame shot was easily smothered by Joe Hart. The reds winger should have done better and the reds were made to pay shortly after.
Downing missed a great chance at 0-0
In the 10th minute, from a Liverpool ball, Kuyt dwelled too long on the ball and it landed at the feet of Sergio Aguero. The Man City man smashed a long range shot, which Pepe Reina allowed under his body giving Man City a surprising lead.
As Liverpool continued to dominate in central areas, looking for ways through City’s resolute defence, City added to their lead.
City whipped in a corner, and Johnson lost YaYa Toure who headed above Reina in to the net.
With the rain piling down in Manchester the reds now faced the top of the table team, with all men behind the ball.
The reds dominated for most of the rest of the game, but were unable to get the ball through City in the important final third. Steven Gerrard and Craig Bellamy came on for the poor Dirk Kuyt and Charlie Adam, and looked more likely to grab the reds a goal back. Gareth Barry saw red for a second bookable offence, after a number of fouls throughout the game.
But the reds gave the ball away in Man City’s half and Yaya Toure powered through the reds defence – Martin Skrtel being adjudged to have taken the slightest knock and City were awarded the penalty. Roberto Mancini waved the imaginary card on the touchline in an attempt to get Skrtel sent off – an unpleasant site for a manager who has gained a lot of respect in English football.
James Milner smashed home the penalty to leave Liverpool with the same scoreline deficit as last season.
The scoreline flattered Man City but Liverpool’s problems returned. Liverpool’s wide men failed to create enough chances leaving Andy Carroll isolated and frustrated up front.
Suarez creativity will be missed. The likes of Downing, Adam and Kuyt are not providing enough creativity and Liverpool fans will be hoping that Steven Gerrard soon gains enough fitness to be back to starting games for the reds.
Man of the Match
Apart from his error at the corner Glen Johnson tried to make up for the lack of ability in the winger in front of him. Spearing also did a good job in ensuring the reds dominated the centre of the park, despite Adam’s lacklustre performance. Henderson also continues his improvement, but we elected to give our man of the match to the ever dependable Jose Enrique who appeared to be operating down the wing on his own.
Those of you that say the report is biased should take a look at the statistics from the game.
Possession: Liverpool = 64% v City = 36%
Shots: Liverpool = 16 v City = 11
Shots on Target: Liverpool = 6 v City = 6
Blocked Shots: Liverpool = 3 v City = 3
Duels Won: Liverpool = 56% v City = 44%
Areal Duels Won: Liverpool = 58% v City = 42%
Interceptions: Liverpool = 14 v City = 12
Corners: Liverpool = 6 v City = 5
Total passes: Liverpool = 593 v City = 331
Long Passes: Liverpool = 12% v City = 14%
Pass Accuracy: Liverpool = 86% v City = 77%
Pass Accuracy Opp Half: Liverpool = 76% v City = 63%
Crosses: Liverpool = 39 v City = 8
Succesful crosses: Liverpool = 18% v City = 25%Tackles: Liverpool = 18 v City = 19
Tackle Success: Liverpool = 83% v City = 69%
Clearances: Liverpool = 5 v City = 44
Fouls: Liverpool = 8 v City = 13
Interceptions: Liverpool = 14 v City = 12
Man of the Match: Vincent Kompany
Clearly the scoreline is not reflected in the balance of the game as evidenced by the stats above. In which case, the scoreline clearly flattered Man City. The fact that Kompany was man of the match says a lot about how the game unfolded. City had a lot of defending to do and didn’t really do much in the last 3rd. Quite surprising given the compliment of attacking players they have. In addition, the goals City scored didn’t really stem from chances ‘created’. Reina should have done better with Aguero’s and the second was a defensive howler from a set piece. I’d even argue that the penalty was soft, but credit to Toure for a great surging run.
gerrard is man of the match liverpool have gone rubbisher because they have lost torres
You do the shot from Auguero a dis service. The shot was venomous and dipped at the last second.
Agree with BlooMoon57. Totally biased report. I too was there and there was always only going to be one winner. Are you forgetting the missed chances by City including hitting the post ??? Thought so
What you Liverpool fans have to be careful of is not sounding like United fans and this report sounds like it came hot off the OT press
Even to mention Johnson as trying to play well says everything about your report.Johnson is a shocking defender was,before Liverpool signed him and still is.Did Gerrard come on??He has been around for ages doing nothing [very,very overrated]not at Liverpool because the standards are so low and expectations even lower.Since last winning the league they have outspent Utd by a long way….net loss for that period is 228,850,000 million against Utds net loss of 151,580,000 million not including manager payoffs for the same period.
Thats what I like to read…an unbiased review !!
I’ll say no more..I was there but not sure if you were judging by the blinkered review.