Home ›› 18 Oct 2022 ›› Sport
Mohamed Salah produced a moment of magic as Liverpool condemned Manchester City to their first Premier League defeat of the season on Sunday, leaving leaders Arsenal four points clear at the summit.
The Egyptian forward’s stunning goal in the 76th minute sealed a 1-0 win in a crackling contest at Anfield after the Gunners beat Leeds by the same scoreline.
Liverpool and City could not be separated in the first half at Anfield but the game caught fire after the break.
Jurgen Klopp’s team had a glorious chance to take the lead early in the second half when Salah broke clear but City goalkeeper Ederson managed to get a faint touch to tip his shot wide.
The visitors thought they had snatched the lead moments later through Phil Foden but VAR spotted a foul by Erling Haaland on Fabinho in the build-up and the goal was disallowed.
Instead it was Liverpool who struck, with Salah spinning past Joao Cancelo on the halfway line as the pair challenged for an Alisson Becker clearance and racing away to fire beyond Ederson.
The game became heated in the closing stages and referee Anthony Taylor sent Klopp to the stands for the German’s angry reaction to a perceived injustice.
But Liverpool repelled City’s desperate attacks in the closing stages to secure just their third league win in nine games after a poor start to the season.
“Against the best team in the world it is incredibly hard, but we deserved the three points with an incredible performance,” Klopp told the BBC.
“Nobody could set a high press so you have to be smart, and we were, and you have to defend with a big heart, which we did. It was a game of real passion and we go there in the end.”
Guardiola praised his team’s performance in the feverish atmosphere but bemoaned the disallowed goal.
“The referee says play on, play on, play on,” he said. “How many thousand million fouls he has almost given? But the goal was not given.”
