Liverpool 4 Man City 3: ‘invincibles’ dream ends at Anfield

Sadio Mane Liverpool 4 Manchester City 2 Premier League

Sadio Mane celebrates his goal for Liverpool against Manchester City at Anfield

(Image credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

published 15 January 2018

Liverpool 4 Manchester 3

The invincibles are no more. Manchester City’s dream of emulating the Arsenal side of 2003-04 and going a Premier League season unbeaten ended in exhilarating fashion yesterday when Liverpool pulled off a pulsating 4-3 win at Anfield.

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It was City’s first league defeat since 5 April last year. They now remain 15 points clear at the top of the table, albeit having played one game more than Manchester United, who could close the gap by three more points this evening if they beat Stoke at Old Trafford.

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But City boss Pep Guardiola won’t be unduly concerned, despite the scoreline. His side showed courage and character in fighting back from a 4-1 deficit, scoring two late goals that left Liverpool fans on the edge of their seats for the final two minutes of stoppage time.

“Congratulations to Liverpool for the victory,” said Guardiola, who warmly embraced Jurgen Klopp at the final whistle. “The game was in our hands at 1-1 but our finishing was not good and then it went suddenly to 4-1. You have to be stable when you concede a goal and we were not solid enough. You have to live this kind of situation in the season.”

City certainly weren’t stable in a nine-minute period that saw them concede three stunning goals to their hosts.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Leroy Sane had swapped goals in the first-half but the game exploded into life on 59 minutes when Roberto Firmino muscled his way past John Stones before conjuring a magical chip over the head of Ederson and into the City net.

Sadio Mane then unleashed a thunderous shot into the top right-hand corner and minutes later it was 4-1 as Mohamed Salah pounced on a wayward clearance from the advancing Ederson to stroke the ball into the empty net from 40 yards.

The Reds were in raptures but Guardiola remained calm, exhorting his players to keep driving forward. They did, and they got their reward with goals from Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan on 84 and 91 minutes.

“We did a good performance apart from a few minutes,” said a rueful Guardiola. “We have a week to recover and prepare for the Newcastle game… in every press conference for the last few months you [the media] have said that the Premier League is done and I always said no. It is still to be done.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was outstanding, admitted the match was “a bit too frantic for my liking” but paid tribute to his teammates for holding out to become the first club to beat City in the league since Chelsea nine months ago.

“We were comfortable and controlling at 4-1 limiting them but when it went to 4-2 and 4-3 they got the wind in their sails and it was backs against the wall,” he said. “To have conceded and to only draw at the end would have been a big loss so I’m really proud of the boys.”

Klopp was still in a state of excitement when he addressed the press, barely able to string a coherent sentence together amid the euphoria. “Wow! What a game! Two teams, full throttle,” he said. “We played, I don’t know which level, we caused them problems like hell. I was not scared at the end, not that I didn’t think we could concede a fourth. I have known my boys long enough now, it was so intense. If you combine quality with attitude you see a game like this. I really loved it.”

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