WRITTEN BY SIMON PEARCE @SymesCyber
On a day where Watford parted ways with their 15th permanent manager in the last 10 years, two of the Premier League’s greatest went head to head.
Historically, Liverpool vs Manchester United has been the more prestigious of the North West derbies, but since possibly 2013-14, and most certainly at least the 2017-18 season, Liverpool vs Manchester City has arguably become a more prominent match in the fight for the Premier League.
As the line-ups were announced, it was maybe a surprise after his two goals against Porto in mid-week to see Bobby Firmino on the bench again, but at least Curtis Jones gets another start. And he’s certainly earned it.
Great to see that The Kop paid tribute today to Sir Roger Hunt with a fantastic mural, as the players held a minutes silence before kick off for the Liverpool legend who passed away earlier this week.
First big take, for me, was the City tactical change, with Grealish being moved central of their front three. They really need to sort their striker issue out, everyone knows he’s a wide man!
First 5-10 minutes the match played out as it had been built up, Liverpool’s attack versus City’s defence. After that though, City took control of the first half, as our midfield quite surprisingly looked rather lethargic.
If I’m being honest, there weren’t many big moments in the first 45. Plenty of small moments, a few medium level moments, especially with Curtis Jones showing he’s not afraid of anyone when he tackled the £100 million man Grealish, and a clumsy foul by Milner on Phil Foden in the box, but we escaped without conceding a penalty. If you had a bet on Milner getting a yellow card in the first half, don’t forget to go collect your winnings!
Alisson also made a couple of big saves from Foden as the half came to a close. Neither side having broken the deadlock.
The second half was a different story, though. Liverpool looked more alive (must have had a Klopp hairdryer at half time). Within the first few minutes, Jota had started getting more balls, and tested Ederson once, stinging the Brazilian keeper’s hands with a hard shot on the turn.
On 55 minutes, Cancelo gets a yellow card after bringing down Salah. Milner takes the free kick, Jones gets on the end of it, but Ederson catches. City high line does its job here.
It was only a few minutes later though, Salah had the ball, ran at the City defence, slid Mane through, Mane ran past Diaz and slotted beautifully to put the Reds 1-0 up.
Another yellow card not long after, this time for Jota who took out Kevin De Bruyne. City and Liverpool both made substitutions at this point. Raheem Sterling came on for Grealish, and the birthday boy Bobby Firmino replaced Jota.
What felt like literally seconds later, the brilliant Phil Foden equalised to make the score 1-1.
Milner fouled Diaz, and probably should have been sent off for a second yellow card, but the referee bottled it, and Milner set up Mo Salah to dance through City’s defence and score on 75 minutes, 2-1! Last play for Milner as he’s now hooked for Gomez.
Five minutes later Joel Matip deflects a Kevin De Bruyne shot past Alisson to level up the game once more. D’oh!
Last big take from this Premier League Heavyweight encounter should have been a third goal for Liverpool. Fabinho was staring at an open goal, but he took a millisecond too long, and Rhodri managed to get back and block his shot.
And that, was that. The curtain came down, the whistle blew, Salah and Foden named joint men of the match, and we now head into the international break.
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