Man City Cruise Past Liverpool to go Second

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FT: Man City 3-0 Liverpool – Mamardashvili saves Haaland penalty before Haaland heads opener; Van Dijk header ruled out. Gonzalez doubles City lead before Doku stunner

City go second, four points behind leaders Arsenal

Liverpool drop to eighth

Goodbye! published at 19:30 GMT19:30 GMTRight, that’s all from us. Don’t forget highlights of today’s games will be on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer from 20:00 GMT, and you can also see all the goals and analysis on Match of the Day on BBC One at 22:30 GMT.

Not a good performance from us’published at 19:28 GMT19:28 GMTFT: Man City 3-0 Liverpool
Liverpool boss Arne Slot, speaking to BBC MOTD: “First half, they were dominating completely. We struggled a lot of with the amount of players they bring in-between the lines.”We went 2-0 behind – then it is even harder – when you come here to change things around in the second half.”On Virgil van Dijk disallowed goal: “Again, it was not a good performance from us in the first half. Again, it was a fair reflection of the first half that they were 2-0 up.”But I cannot agree with the decision being made on that. For me that is a goal. Immediately after the game people showed me the goal City made away at a Wolves last season.”For me, that is a similar one. I was surprised because the first thing you do when you score you look at the linesman – it took 14 seconds before he raised his flag.”These things didn’t help us, but again City being 2-0 up at half-time was a fair reflection for the score.”

1. ‘The teams that don’t give up will still be there’published at 19:27 GMT19:27 GMTFT: Man City 3-0 Liverpool
   
   Manchester City
   Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: “Top game against top opponent. They are the champions of England. We performed really good. Second half was a little sloppy but I am really happy with that.”The team played good and sometimes you don’t play good and you find the goal. But we played really good anyway, and today I am so happy to celebrate it with my family like old times. When they come, it is so special for me.”From my experience, the season is so long. The teams that don’t give up will be there. Then maybe we will be champions but we have to keep going.”
2. ‘City were better than us’published at 19:24 GMT19:24 GMTFT: Man City 3-0 Liverpool
   Liverpool
   Liverpool manager Arne Slot speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: “They were better than us. We had a very hard time bringing the ball out from the back and it was difficult to hold on to the ball. We struggled with Doku on the inside and O’Reilly wide. Then, of course, a referee decision could have influenced a more positive half-time feeling for us. 2-0 down at half-time makes it very difficult to get a result here.On the disallowed Van Dijk goal: “At the moment you score the goal you are looking at the linesman. I couldn’t see it properly. Then we were celebrating and afterwards I saw it took 14 seconds before the linesman raised his flag. For me, the wrong decision was given on the pitch and then it was also given in the review. That’s not to say it would have impacted the result because City were much better. Even we had gone in at 1-1, they could have won but they didn’t have to because they were 2-0 and then 3-0 up.”Sometimes going in at 1-1 can give you something different in the second half. We solved some issues were having in the second half. And then an unbelievable goal from Doku put us 3-0 down, but I still saw a team that wanted to get back into it.”
3. ‘Today we proved it’published at 19:21 GMT19:21 GMTFT: Man City 3-0 Liverpoo
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   Shamoon Hafez
   Football news reporter at Etihad StadiumManchester City boss Pep Guardiola was understandably delighted after that and was asked in the post-match news conference if it was a statement victory from him side.”I’m pretty sure when Arsenal had the equaliser at Sunderland, I was not surprised because of what Sunderland are doing,” he said. “I think Liveprool and us said ‘oh wow Arsenal finally dropped points and conceded two goals.”But at the end we have to do it and I said to the players, don’t do it because yesterday Arsenal didn’t win, do it because we believe in ourselves that we can play against the champions of England and show them we are ready to be there with them this season. Today we proved it, we did it – especially in the first half.”
4. ‘They were better than us’ – Slotpublished at 19:19 GMT19:19 GMTFT: Man City 3-0 Liverpool
   Liverpool boss Arne Slot, speaking to Sky Sports: “Very difficult first half for us. You almost expect it when you go here – they were pressing us really high.”We struggled a lot in the first half. You were hoping to get to the end of the first half 1-0. Then, of course, there was five-10 minutes influential to the game. Instead of going 1-1 or 2-1 it was 2-0 at half-time.”First half, it was obvious that they were better than us.”On Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal: “It is difficult to give my view. It is obvious and clear that the wrong decision has been made at least in my opinion.”He didn’t interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do. Immediately after the game someone showed me the goal that the same referee allowed – City against Wolves last season.”So it took the linesman 13 seconds to raise his flag to say it was offside. So there was clearly communication, but as I said that could have influenced the game in a positive way for us.”On the game: “Set-pieces can make a difference – now we conceded 2-0 from a set-pieces. That was a fair reflection us being 2-0 down.”The game went as it went we would have been lucky going 1-0 down in at half-time. So it has been an influential decision.”You cannot predict how the second half would have gone. It was obvious and clear that City were the better team in the first half.”They were dominating the game and they were better than us. We were having a lot of problems and trouble bringing the ball out from the back, so we lost it early and they started playing.”On Man City’s penalty: “The only thing I could see there was contact – but after the contact he was able to put his foot into the position exactly how he wanted to put his foot into.”On fixing a lot of problems: “I don’t know if that is the situation. It has been very good start of the week with a very bad end to the week.”Today, I don’t think apart from that decision that it was ever gong to be our game. In general they were the better team – we need to improve – but I didn’t need this game to know this.”I saw a team trying to come back into the game, but it wasn’t enough today and that is clear.”Last season when we were eight points clear it didn’t feel like it was done already.”We shouldn’t talk about the the number one position, we should focus on our performance that needs to be better.”

Source: BBC