THE transfer of power is complete at the top of the Premier League.
After Arne Slot’s champions-elect inflicted another emphatic defeat on Pep Guardiola’s fallen four-in-a-row kings, we can officially stop pretending that there is any sort of title race this season.
Mo Salah and Domink Szoboszlai scored the goals as Liverpool beat Man City[/caption]
Salah scored his 25th Prem goal of the season[/caption]
Szoboszlai played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s victory[/caption]
Man City were outplayed for the second time this week[/caption]
Liverpool are walking alone at the top of the table, 11 points clear of an Arsenal side who don’t have a fit centre-forward and have precious little discipline.
The Reds are the best team in England by a country mile, as they proved by winning a league match at the Etihad for the first time in a decade.
Mo Salah netted with a deflected strike from a genius corner-kick routine and then teed up Dominik Szoboslai for a 2-0 half-time lead as City were handed a painful lesson in ruthless efficiency by the runaway leaders.
Liverpool are rarely thrilling but they are impressive in their clarity of thought, the speed of their attacks and the surgical nature of their finishing.
City dominated the ball but never looked like winning.
It was their 14th defeat in all competitions since the end of October. Liverpool are unbeaten in the Premier League during that time, during which their only meaningful defeat was when Slot sent out the reserves at Plymouth in the FA Cup.
The gulf between these clubs – for so long England’s top two – is vast.
City, who were outclassed by Real Madrid as they exited the Champions League in midweek, cannot even give elite clubs a proper game at present.
Liverpool’s coronation had been almost confirmed by Jarrod Bowen’s winner for West Ham at Arsenal yesterday/Saturday.
Yet City had never previously lost a home league game to Liverpool under Guardiola.
For all the brilliance of the matches, and the intensity of the rivalry between his side and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, there was never a Premier League away win, in front of a crowd, for either side.
For City, there was no Erling Haaland, while Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva were all resting after their hiding at the Bernabeu.
Kevin De Bruyne returned but the Belgian simply embodies City’s sudden, incomprehensible decline.
Guardiola employed Phil Foden as a makeshift centre forward and it was ‘false nines’ all round with Slot opting to play Curtis Jones through the middle, leaving Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota on the bench.
On paper, that appeared to be an unlikely show of respect towards Guardiola’s bullet-ridden troops.
It turned out to be nothing of the sort.
It only took 14 minutes for the league leaders to go in front with that beautifully-choreographed corner routine.
After a Lewis blunder, Luis Diaz won the set-piece with a shot turned around the near post by Ederson.
Alexis Mac Allister delivered it low to Dominik Szoboszlai, who had peeled away from the near post into space and cut back neatly for Salah to score with a shot which took a heavy deflection off Nathan Ake.
Arsenal have a mural of their set-piece coach. Perhaps Liverpool will soon have one too. ,
Slot’s side hadn’t looked convincing before that. Doku was frequently twisting Trent Alexander-Arnold inside out, yet while City dominated possession there was no end product.
The champions netted on the half-hour but while Omar Marmoush had finished smartly, in off the far post, he had been in a comfortably offside position.
Soon it was 2-0, Alexander-Arnold’s lofted pass releasing Salah, who darted forward and squared for Szoboszlai to ping his shot past a frozen Ederson – one of many City players who look gone at all levels.
The sound of jubilant, crowing Scousers pounded the eardrums of every City fan and of the nation at large.
And it was the last kick of the first half which summed up City’s implosion perfectcly – a shot from the once-great De Bruyne which sailed over the corner flag.
After the break, De Bruyne attempted a sliding tackle on Szoboszlai, missed, and careered into Guardiola in his technical area.
Liverpool thought they had gone three-up when Ryan Graveberch’s visionary pass released Szoboszlai who squared for Jones to tap in – only for VAR to deem the Hungarian offside by a toenail, when he had been level by any previous understanding.
Technology punishing a brilliant move and rewarding lazy defending.
Instantly, City woke up and Marmoush’s fierce shot forced a first meaningful save from Alisson.
Next, Diaz cut inside and had a powerful effort brilliantly saved by a fully-stretched Ederson.
De Bruyne was hauled off in place of James McAtee but by then Liverpool were home and hosed.
