Manchester City crushed their rivals Liverpool 3-0 with goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez, and Jeremy Doku, providing a perfect tribute for manager Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th game in management. City climbed to second in the table on 22 points, four adrift of leaders Arsenal, while defending champions Liverpool tumbled to eighth on 18 points after a halt to their mini-revival.
Erling Haaland, opened the scoring, notching his 14th goal of the campaign as well as his 99th league goal for the club, with a header from Matheus Nunes' cross in the 29th minute. The goal atoned for the Norwegian missing an earlier penalty, which was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili after Doku was fouled.
Liverpool thought they had equalized soon after when Virgil van Dijk headed home, but the goal was controversially ruled out for offside, as VAR deemed Andrew Robertson made "an action directly in front of the goalkeeper" by ducking.
City doubled their lead just before halftime through midfielder Nico Gonzalez. His long-range shot took a deflection off Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk’s leg, wrong-footing Mamardashvili to make the score 2-0.
The second half saw Doku complete an outstanding performance by scoring his first league goal since January in the 63rd minute. After receiving a pass from Nico O’Reilly, the Belgian winger jinked onto his other foot before whipping a shot into the far corner, extending City's lead.
Manager Pep Guardiola praised his team's focus, stating, "The players and staff give me an incredible present with the most important opponent we play in my 10 years here." The victory enhanced City's chances of catching Arsenal, while Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted that being 2-0 down at halftime was a "fair reflection of how the game went."
The result condemned Liverpool to their fifth defeat in six league games, abruptly ending their momentum from recent wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid. City, who finished the game with six shots on target to Liverpool's one, showed superior quality and control, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma also providing world-class saves when called upon.
