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Man City earned a 3-0 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola revealed that he told Nico O’Reilly to be ‘aggressive’ to nullify Mo Salah in Manchester City’s victory over Liverpool.
The Reds fell to a 3-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium to further dent the chance of the Premier League title being defended. Arne Slot’s side were second-best in all departments, with Erling Haaland and Nico Gonzalez putting the home side ahead in the first half. A fine Jeremy Doku strike rounded off the triumph for City after the break.
Liverpool were largely quiet bar a Virgil van Dijk header that found the back of the net being disallowed for offside. In he modern-day rivals’ battles over the past few years, Salah has wreaked havoc for the Reds and scored in the 2-0 victory en route to winning the title last season.
What’s been said
But he was kept quiet for much of the game, having only one chance to score a consolation that went wide. And Guardiola hailed the performance of 20-year-old left-back O’Reilly. The City boss said: “He has been a nightmare, Salah, for many years. He’s top. I said to Nico you have to be aggressive. He had help from central defender and midfielders every time Mo had the ball.
“Jeremy, Bernardo, Phil were all there. It was incredible teamwork, but Nico made a step up because at the end you have to prove yourself against the best wingers.
“There is no better example to do it when you play against Salah, he did really good. He’s with the national team because Thomas [Tuchel] is smart enough to see how he’s been playing.
“He had many good attributes but this intensity in duels he didn’t have in the Academy because he was an eight or a 10 in midfield. I’m so pleased with the way he performed.”
Guardiola rues second-half performance
City’s victory moved them four points clear of Liverpool and closed the gap on league leaders Arsenal to four points. Guardiola’s side have recorded three successive wins after beating AFC Bournemouth and Borussia Dortmund.
The Spaniard, who took charge of his 1000th game in his managerial career, is in pursuit of a seventh Premier League crown this season. But Guardiola was not happy how City performed in the second half against Liverpool. He added: “In October and November, you don’t win the Premier League. The team that wins is the one that grows. You can be top but you have to be better and better. We talk about that a lot.
“We have the feeling we are in that way. We are back in many things. I didn’t like the second half against Bournemouth or Liverpool or 20 minutes against BVB but this is a point we have to grow.
“It was important wins against Bournemouth, BVB and Liverpool. A fantastic week for us. I have the feeling it’s back and we can play in different ways now. That’s good for us but not for the opponents. They don’t know what we’re going to do.”
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