By Safiu Kehinde
Manchester City emerged the better side in today’s Super Saturday English Premier League clash against Liverpool as they cruised past the Kops with a comfortable 4-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
The defending champion got the best out of the struggling Merseyside club as they closed the gap on table-toppers, Arsenal, in the Premier League title race.
Though Liverpool went into an early lead through Mohammed Salah’s goal in the 17thminute, the lead, however, did not last long as World Cup winner, Julian Alvarez, pulled one back for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Spearheading Manchester City’s attack in place of injured Erling Haaland, Alvarez was at the receiving end of City’s brilliant build-up as the Argentine put the ball past Liverpool’s goalkeeper to keep the score sheet on level till the end of the first-half.
The referee had barely blew the second-half whistle before Manchester City took the lead.
A Riyadh Mahrez cross had met Kevin De Bruyne who headed the ball into the back of the net, bringing the scoreboard to 2-1 lead for the host.
German international, Ilkay Gundogan, increased the pressure on Jurgen Klopp’s side as he lashed back a poor clearance from Trent Alexander-Arnold beyond the reach of Liverpool’s goalkeeper, Alison Becker.
While Liverpool kept struggling to get back into the game, Manchester City put the icing on the cake via Jack Grealish’s 73rd minute goal.
The win now places Manchester City just eight points below Arsenal with one outstanding match at hand.