Key stats
- Man City have beaten Liverpool for the first time in the Premier League since 1st April 2023, a run of four games without a win.
- Liverpool have lost by three goals in a Premier League match under Arne Slot for the first time - and the first time since April 2023, also away at Man City. They are also the first reigning Premier League champions to concede as many as 17 goals in their first 11 games since Liverpool in 2020-21 (17).
- The Reds have been flagged offside seven or more times in each of their last two Premier League games (eight v Aston Villa, seven today), as many times as they did so in their previous 417 games combined.
Highlights
Analysis
Man City's Jérémy Doku starred against Liverpool and earned the highest Flashscore rating of the match (9.3). It was Doku's first goal of the season, and his first strike since 19th January 2025 against Ipswich.
Match report
Playing like a side that had won nine of their last 10 PL home games, City started confidently against the champions. Giorgi Mamardashvili soon found himself in hot water when his knee caught Jérémy Doku, who was gliding into a shooting position in the box, having nicked possession from Ibrahima Konaté.
However, the Georgian shot-stopper swiftly atoned for his error, diving low to prevent Haaland from opening the scoring from the resultant penalty.
Undeterred, the hosts remained in the ascendancy, threatening through Rayan Cherki, who dug out a shot that deflected over the bar, shortly before an effervescent Doku worked a shooting angle to force a near-post save from Mamardashvili.
It seemed like a matter of time before City would break the deadlock, and with 29 minutes on the clock, Haaland was the man to do it, heading home Matheus Nunes’ searching ball, despite Konaté’s attempted intervention.
Liverpool were firmly second best throughout the first half, yet a quality corner delivery from Mohamed Salah and an equally impressive header from Virgil van Dijk appeared to draw them level before the interval, only to be denied by a VAR check that found Andrew Robertson to be standing in an offside position.
Hopes that the Reds were turning the tide on recent poor results were fading fast, and City hammered home their superiority in first-half stoppage time, with Van Dijk dangling out a foot to deflect Nico González’s low effort past Mamardashvili.
A period of Liverpool resurgence suggested that there could yet be a fightback from the Reds, as Conor Bradley saw two crosses turned over – one inadvertently by González and the other blazed high at the back post by Cody Gakpo.
However, Doku soon snuffed out any idea of a turnaround, shifting the ball to his right and bending in a delightful third for City and marking a magnificent performance with a deserved goal. Dominik Szoboszlai saw a rifled shot saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, shortly before Salah dinked a delicate effort wide of the Italian’s post, but there was ultimately no way back for Liverpool.
The result confirms a seventh win in eight games across all competitions for City, who moved to within four points of leaders Arsenal as they marked Pep Guardiola’s 1000th game in management in perfect fashion.
Meanwhile, Arne Slot’s side have now suffered defeats in six of their last seven domestic encounters and fall to eighth, four points further adrift, having failed to win back-to-back away league H2Hs since 1991.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jérémy Doku (Manchester City)