Liverpool 0-3 Manchester City: result and report

Report

Manchester City won 3-0 at Liverpool, but the scoreline exaggerates the gap between the sides. The game was still goalless when Ryan Gravenberch was sent off.

How the match turned

Gravenberch's second yellow card on 62 minutes changed the game because City scored three times against ten men. Erling Haaland opened the scoring three minutes later. Jérémy Doku made it 2-0 on 68 minutes from Elliot Anderson's pass, and Rayan Cherki added the third on 78 minutes after a Josko Gvardiol assist.

Cherki was named player of the match, though the decisive feature was how quickly City struck. Three different players scored inside 13 minutes, so a tight game became a heavy defeat for Liverpool almost at once.

Liverpool: the chances behind the scoreline

Despite the margin, Liverpool finished with more xG, 1.27 to 1.06, and more shots on target, six to four. City made six saves while Liverpool made one, which explains much of the gap in the score.

That still does not make Liverpool the better side. Their xG came without a single big chance, so it was built from lesser openings. City created the only three big chances of the match and missed two of them, yet they turned four shots on target into three goals.

Manchester City across the match

City had 65% of the ball, 11 shots to eight and 48 dangerous attacks to Liverpool's 28. They also carried far more of the sustained attacking pressure, so their win rests on more than the red card alone. Even so, Liverpool's shots on target show they were never simply pinned back.