No Reprieve for Guardiola as Liverpool Deepens Man City’s Troubles

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City suffers another setback as Liverpool secures a crucial victory, adding to City’s ongoing struggles this season.

Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to nine points with a 2-0 victory over Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, further escalating City’s crisis.

Cody Gakpo’s goal in the 12th minute barely reflected the Reds’ dominance in the first half, and they secured their 18th win out of 20 matches under Arne Slot with Mohamed Salah’s successful penalty.

City are currently 11 points behind the league leaders, sitting in fifth place, and have not won any of their last seven matches, suffering six losses.

Liverpool’s nearest challengers are Arsenal and Chelsea, as it seems likely that City will relinquish their status as English champions after securing an unprecedented four consecutive titles.

City’s sole point since October 26 felt more like a loss, as they squandered a 3-0 lead in the final 15 minutes to end in a 3-3 draw against Feyenoord during their midweek Champions League match.

Pep Guardiola reacted by benching goalkeeper Ederson, and brought Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias back into the defense.

However, the defending champions did not respond as they were overwhelmed in the early stages.

Pep Guardiola, the Spanish manager of Manchester City, observes his players from the sidelines during the English Premier League match against Liverpool at Anfield in Liverpool, northwest England on December 1, 2024. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)

Stefan Ortega had to make impressive saves against attempts by Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai, followed by a powerful header from Virgil van Dijk that struck the post.

City struggled to move beyond their half in the first quarter, and it wasn’t long before Gakpo converted Salah’s inviting cross at the back post into a goal.

Van Dijk unleashed another powerful header that missed by inches as Liverpool continued to create opportunities.

Even in City’s most successful seasons under Guardiola, they have found it challenging to handle the intensity of the Anfield crowd.

City’s sole away victory over Liverpool since 2003 took place without spectators during the pandemic-affected 2021/22 season.

Guardiola’s team managed to stop the damage somewhat by maintaining possession towards the end of the first half, and Rico Lewis narrowly missed with their first attempt on goal.

At the beginning of the second period, City showed more positivity; however, they remained vulnerable and could have been penalized multiple times on counter-attacks.

First, Ortega quickly moved off his line to make a block after Gakpo received an excellent pass from Andy Robertson.

Salah then misfired a one-on-one shot against the German goalkeeper, sending it over the bar and leaving most of the 60,000 spectators in disbelief.

Another turnover deep within their own half ultimately led to City conceding the crucial second goal.

Luis Diaz intercepted the ball from Walker and advanced forward until Ortega brought him down.

Salah had missed a penalty, shooting wide in Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League victory against Real Madrid.

This time, the Egyptian secured the bottom corner for his 13th goal of the season, capping off a perfect week for Liverpool.

In the second half, Guardiola brought Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Jack Grealish, and Kevin De Bruyne off the bench in search of a lifeline.

However, it was clear once more that City heavily depended on Erling Haaland for goals. Van Dijk effectively marked him out of the game and had been dominant until a late lapse in concentration nearly allowed City to score a consolation goal.

He passed the ball to De Bruyne, but he was unable to get past the in-form Caoimhin Kelleher.

In the final moments, fans taunted Guardiola with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning.”

The City manager responded by holding up six fingers, each representing one of his Premier League titles from the past seven seasons.

However, much like his team, Guardiola is relying on the memories of past achievements as Liverpool already seem beyond City’s reach this season.