- Goals traded in first 45
- Reds score three in eight minutes
- Man City’s 30-game PL unbeaten run ends
- B. Silva, Gundogan score late
- MORE: JPW’s 3 things at Anfield
Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, and Mohamed Salah scored second half goals as Liverpool topped Man City 4-3 at Anfield on Sunday
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Leroy Sane traded first half goals before Liverpool exploded after the break. The Reds move third with the win on 47 points, 15 back of leaders City.
Bernardo Silva scored in the 84th minute and Ilkay Gundogan nabbed one in stoppage time for Man City to close the gap.
Virgil van Dijk missed out for Liverpool with a minor leg injury.
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Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were perhaps a bit too excited to find a fourth minute break, and an early chance was wasted but a warning sign proffered to Man City.
Oxlade-Chamberlain opened the scoring to cap a frenetic first 10 minutes when he belted a low shot past a slow-to-react Ederson. It was 1-0.
Sergio Aguero just missed a sliding equalizer when his offside run nearly met a Kevin De Bruyne cross.
Minutes later, Leroy Sane saw a left-footed shot deflect off Dejan Lovren’s back and out for a corner kick which City played short. And Karius was low to collect a De Bruyne shot in the 35th minute.
Fabian Delph was injured and replaced by Danilo, but it was another fullback who picked up an assist as Man City, to the surprise of few, had an answer before the break.
Kyle Walker sent a long ball over the top of the defense to Sane, and an overeager Joe Gomez let Sane’s chest trap befuddle him. The German then cooked Joel Matip before blasting an effort past Loris Karius to make it 1-1.
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5 - Kyle Walker has provided five assists in 21 Premier League games this season; his joint-best return in a PL campaign (5 assists in 16-17). Contributor.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 14, 2018
My mentions today #lookaway pic.twitter.com/aDw8AKKMaN
— Benjamin Mendy (@benmendy23) January 14, 2018
[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]
Nicolas Otamendi’s fine season nearly took the next step when his header off a 51st minute corner popped off the cross bar.
Liverpool’s aim to reclaim the lead was stymied by an Ederson stop on Salah, but a corner soon followed when Oxlade-Chamberlain’s attempt at a brace was partially blocked by City.
Firmino did restore the advantage when he bodied off John Stones and chipped Ederson to make it 2-1 in the 60th.
And Anfield just avoided pure bedlam when Mane cranked a shot off the cross bar less than a minute after the goal.
That wild reaction arrived in the 62nd minute when Mane got another chance. Salah blocked an Otamendi clearance, and a composed Mane betrayed his cool with a vicious strike past Ederson.
Then this, from Salah:
But it wasn’t over, somehow. Bernardo Silva was in the catbird seat to pull within two, and Gundogan just poked a ball home in the first of four minutes of stoppage time.
City then won a free kick in the fourth minute of stoppage. De Bruyne presided over the effort, as Klopp subtituted Ragnar Klavan for Mane to waste precious time.
Aguero’s diving header deceived the eyes and the rules as he was offside when his header sailed into the outside of the netting.
