Man City 4-1 Liverpool (Alvarez 27′, De Bruyne 46′, Gundogan 53′, Grealish 74′ | Salah 17′)
Pep Guardiola has never admitted it, while those who have even suggested the notion have done so with a hint of embarrassment at the very thought of it.
But, perhaps, there is at least some element of truth, as ridiculous as it sounds, in the possibility that Manchester City are a more fluid attacking machine without goalscoring phenom Erling Haaland in it.
If Haaland was passed fit to face Liverpool, he would certainly have started – how can you drop someone making a mockery of breaking records week on week? Nonetheless, there would have been no tears in the City dressing room from Guardiola pre-match when the Norwegian told his manager personally he wasn’t fit to play.
Instead, what transpired was the perfect afternoon for the madcap Catalan – thrashing a rival, his way. The false nine, sumptuous football with everyone playing an equal part, just as Karl Marx imagined the world, in a fluid formation – all the Guardiola hits were fulfilled as these once great rivals continued on very trajectories this season.
Liverpool came to Manchester buoyed by their previous clash with a side from the city, but that humiliation of United has turned out just as the doom-mongers on the red half of Merseyside feared – an aberration.
While the scoreline suggested Liverpool were well in the contest at some point, taking the lead after 17 minutes through Mohamed Salah, all those in attendance could feel the Egyptian, who became the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush in 1986-87 to score against the same team in four different games in a single season, was just delaying the inevitable.
The goals that turned the match on its head were typical Haaland-less City – slick passing moves finished off by tap ins from a pinpoint pullback.
The first was a Guardiola goal in a nutshell, one touch passes slid home by the false nine Alvarez, who could not be picked up all afternoon, while the second, 52 seconds after the break, typified the defensive inadequacies that have been epidemic at Liverpool this season, with Kevin De Bruyne’s tap in again coming on the end of a Riyad Mahrez pullback.
Another Real Madrid-esque second-half humbling appeared on the cards for Liverpool as Fabinho decided not to mark Alvarez in the build-up to Gundogan’s game-clinching third, before the best two players on the pitch – Jack Grealish and De Bruyne – combined for the former to put the game to bed with another goal of real beauty, a Guardiola dream move.
Even for a man who has seen plenty of false nines in his time, Alvarez will have given Guardiola the ultimate selection headache with his performance against Liverpool. The way he dropped off Fabinho, completely unnoticed, for City’s third is the very reason why the City boss loves the system so much.
All afternoon, a below par Liverpool could not pick him up, and when they tried to, Grealish, De Bruyne and the superb Mahrez came at them. Well-organised, high pressing Jurgen Klopp sides of yesteryear might have had a chance of coping with that four-pronged threat. Not this one.
“It was almost the perfect performance,” Guardiola said. “With Erling you have something special and Julian is something special as well.
“He (Alvarez) was important for the first three goals, his movement, his positioning. With the ball he was so clever. He played with national team, world champions, if you aren’t good you cannot play in a world champion team. Thank you so much (to the club) for scouting him.”
Guardiola enjoyed himself all match, a lot. When celebrating the equaliser, he got right in the faces of Liverpool substitutes, goading them – not a good look. Every goal that followed was celebrated with real vigour, too. Like a man who had things completely his way.
It is the most luxurious luxury to have and not entirely surprising at the same time when you consider how near-perfect City have been in the transfer market in recent time – Haaland will start when he is fit, and likely score a hat-trick. When he isn’t in the team, the aesthetics of the football on show go up a notch still. Ridiculous.
Fundamentally, as they often do when it really, really matters, City are hitting top gear, Haaland or no Haaland. Two different ways of winning games, both just as effective.
If Guardiola could have it totally his way for the rest of the season, at home and abroad, having to cope without one of the best goalscorers the world has ever seen may not be such a bad thing for a prolonged period. Just don’t expect him to say as such.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/LWqBTDN
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