NO Haaland,,No Problem City Smash Liverpool

Manchester City outclassed Liverpool with an outstanding performance at Etihad Stadium, maintaining pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal despite the injury to Erling Haaland.

The 42-goal scorer for City was ruled out due to a groin injury, but Pep Guardiola’s defending champions showed their overall strength by rallying from a goal down against a Liverpool team that has historically been a challenge for them to win convincingly.

After 17 minutes, Liverpool caught City off guard with a counterattack to take the lead. Diogo Jota made the break, and Mohamed Salah scored with a powerful finish.

After 27 minutes, Julian Alvarez equalized for City thanks to the great Jack Grealish, who made a critical intervention on Salah when Liverpool had the potential to extend their advantage.

53 seconds after the half, City took the lead thanks to an assist from Alvarez. His raking pass found Riyad Mahrez, who then crossed for Kevin de Bruyne to score at the back post.

In an unfamiliar position that required him to go into midfield but also drop back into defense when necessary, John Stones had a superb performance. With City in complete control, Ilkay Gundogan added the third goal following a fight in the goalmouth.

Grealish earned a goal, which he duly scored in the 74th minute when he came just in time to turn in a cross from De Bruyne as Liverpool finished downed and exhausted.

Grealish had a performance of the greatest caliber, earning a standing ovation when he came in late in the game.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was harassed by the 27-year-old England winger, who also provided Alvarez with an easy equalizer before adding the fourth goal to more accurately represent City’s dominance against Liverpool.

Amid all of his efforts, the lung-bursting sprint to pursue Salah and stop him as the Egyptian sped by with the chance to set up Jota was crucial. He began playing at Alavarez shortly after, and the City had reached parity.

Grealish has adapted well to his position at Manchester City, and it is apparent that his boss believes in him since he gave him a bear hug as he left the field.

Even without Haaland, City were brilliant and illustrated the gap that has grown between them and Liverpool, who have been the only team to seriously challenge them for the championship in recent years.

Stones put on a stylish display, spending time breaking up attacks and sprinkling passes around in midfield to demonstrate what a naturally gifted footballer he is. This demonstrated the depth of Guardiola’s team and served as a stark warning to Arsenal that they will not relinquish their title without a fight.

Liverpool’s fall showed that they had been Manchester City’s shadow in recent championship contests; today, they are only a shadow of the team that sought an unprecedented quadruple last season.

The squad led by Jürgen Klopp may occasionally resemble their previous selves, like in the 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United, but they have been average this season and now must compete to place in the top four.

Jordan Henderson and Fabinho in the middle of the field appear worn out and exposed, while Virgil van Dijk has lost much of his former dominance at the center of the defense.

Andrew Robertson, his full-back teammate on the opposite side, did not fare any better than Alexander-Arnold did over the previous ninety minutes.

The pursuit of Jude Bellingham by Liverpool has received a lot of attention, but even if they are successful despite resistance from many of Europe’s elite, the notion that the intelligent kid would solve all their problems is illusory.

Klopp appeared to be both incensed and perplexed by Liverpool’s terrible defense, lack of effort, and the way they were outmuscled, but considering their recent performance this season, he shouldn’t have been too shocked.