Reds run riot at the Etihad
“I am not Jesus, I cannot walk on water,” Jürgen Klopp had remarked on his first day as Liverpool’s new manager. This, however, was water that tasted uncomfortably like cabernet sauvignon.
Save for an emphatic victory at Stamford Bridge, Klopp’s record had been unremarkable but this opening 45 minutes seemed an astonishing indication of what he might achieve on Merseyside. Manchester City were outplayed and embarrassed on their own ground as they have rarely been in the Abu Dhabi era.
As part of their Junior Cityzens programme, City had flown one of their fans, eight-year-old Gabriel, from Brazil to watch the game. It was generous of them to allow Gabriel to see two countrymen, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, take Manchester City apart. They scored a goal each and but for fine goalkeeping by an over-exposed Joe Hart, they might have scored several more.
The last time Klopp had come to the Etihad Stadium, he had seen Borussia Dortmund dominate City and fail to win because of a Mario Balotelli penalty. When Sergio Aguero, returning for the first time since scoring five against Newcastle, thundered a shot past Simon Mignolet just before the interval, it seemed there might be an even more extraordinary comeback.
Mignolet saved brilliantly from the Argentine who was not fully fit and an emphatic drive from Martin Skrtel as Manchester City failed to deal with a corner ended any fantasy Raheem Sterling might have had of beating the club he had spurned.
The defeat of Manchester City in March represented the last significant triumph of Brendan Rodgers’ regime. Liverpool had returned to Merseyside in the small hours of Friday morning from Istanbul, where they had been knocked out of the Europa League on penalties, and had faced City on the Sunday.
The doubts that engulfed Anfield were washed away by a supreme finish by Coutinho. Suddenly, it seemed Steven Gerrard’s farewell might include an FA Cup final and the gift of Champions League football. Then the bad fairies of Crystal Palace, Stoke City and Aston Villa came to spoil that sugar-coated ending.
Nevertheless, for all the inquests into which member of Liverpool’s much-criticised transfer committee authorised which payment, the £8m paid to Internazionale for Coutinho’s services seems an astonishing piece of business.
Firmino cost rather more – £29m – and nobody at Anfield wanted to claim responsibility for that cheque; he was dropped almost as soon as the season had begun. Maybe because he had seen him play in Germany, Klopp preferred Firmino to Christian Benteke or Daniel Sturridge. By the time the evening was half an hour old, both could relax. The boys from Brazil seemed to have won the game almost unaided.
From the moment Bacary Sagna allowed himself to be dispossessed in the run-up to Liverpool’s first goal, Manchester City gave them every assistance. Coutinho sprinted down the left flank and found Firmino, who cut the ball back. Eliaquim Mangala, £42m worth of accidents waiting to happen, tripped over his own feet and propel it into his own net.
This has been a season when Vincent Kompany’s position at the heart of the Manchester City defence has been in more question than at any time at the Etihad Stadium and yet, when he is absent, the holes gape.
As Firmino marauded forward again, there must have been three blue shirts near him but the switched pass left them stranded and Coutinho’s shot was drilled through Joe Hart’s legs for Liverpool’s second.
If the first goal should have acted as a wake-up call, the second ought to have been a bucket of iced water but still Manchester City continued to slumber, their shoddiness emphasised by a free-kick that saw Yaya Touré push a simple square pass to Fernando, who allowed the ball to run over his feet. Touré did not survive Manuel Pellegrini’s half-time team talk and nor did Jesus Navas.
Liverpool’s third was the product of a sublime back-heel from Emre Can that released Coutinho through another horribly square City defence. The architect’s son from Rio de Janeiro laid on a simple goal for the boy from the sugar cane plantations of Maceio. It summed up Liverpool’s performance, beautifully constructed and very sweet.
Manchester City: (4-2-3-1) Hart; Sagna, Demichelis, Mangala, Kolarov; Y Touré, (Fernandinho, h-t), Fernando; Navas (Delph, h-t), De Bruyne, Sterling; Aguero (Iheanacho, 66).
Liverpool: (4-3-3) Migonolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno; Milner, Lucas Leiva, Can; Lallana (K Touré, 90), Firmino (Benteke, 77), Coutinho (Ibe, 68).
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Man of the match: Firmino (Liverpool)
Source: Independent
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