**Manchester City continued their flawless start to the season with a 3-0 win at Anfield this evening despite the off-pitch issues that continue to loom over the club.**
Liverpool were reduced to 10 men on the hour mark, when Ryan Gravenberch was shown a second yellow card despite an outstanding performance in Liverpool’s midfield up to that point.
Just minutes later, Erling Haaland netted the opener with an emphatic half volley past Alisson. The Citizens quickly doubled their lead when Jérémy Doku cut inside before curling the ball into the far corner. Cherki made it three for Enzo Maresca’s side when he polished off a lovely passing move with a calm finish.
Headline news when the lineups came out was that Alexander Isak and Dominik Szoboszlai were both missing from Liverpool’s matchday squad following the international break. This forced Andoni Iraola into changes, with Liverpool bringing Gravenberch into the middle of the park to replace the Hungarian, as well as Victor Muñoz and Lewis Koumas replacing Isak and Cody Gakpo. Meanwhile, Enzo Maresca named one change, with Nico O’reilly replacing Joško Gvardiol.
Ronald Araujo was booked early on after making a yellow-card gesture towards the referee following a handball incident involving Marc Guéhi. Moments later, tempers flared on the halfway line with players from both sides racing in to get involved in the scuffle after a coming together between Rúben Dias and Alexis Mac Allister.
Jérémy Jacquet looked to have broken the deadlock after 21 minutes, but Gianluigi Donnarumma comfortably saved his header. Both keepers were then called into action in quick succession, with Donnarumma denying Muñoz before Enzo Fernández’s speculative effort was kept out by Alisson at the other end.
The next 10 minutes passed both sides by, with neither creating a clear-cut chance, so they headed into the break goalless.
Gravenberch was booked in the opening minutes of the second half after he put a late challenge in on Elliot Anderson. Moments later, a huge chance fell to Koumas, who forced Donnarumma into another strong save to keep the score level. Seconds later, the Italian made another diving save, this time denying Gravenberch from distance.
At the other end, Antoine Semenyo’s low cross flew across the face of goal but couldn’t quite reach Iliman Ndiaye’s outstretched leg. A similar chance presented itself to Liverpool shortly after; this time it was Araujo’s cross and Koumas’ miskick in the area.
O’Reilly was shown a yellow card just before the hour mark for bringing down Muñoz on the edge of the area. Wirtz took the resultant free-kick, but saw his delivery headed away by Guéhi. Another set-piece followed, which saw Wirtz pick out Mac Allister in the middle, but the Argentine fired wide of the post.
An outstanding performance from Gravenberch came to an early end just moments later, when the Dutchman was shown a second yellow card and given his marching orders.
The seemingly inevitable Haaland goal came just a few minutes later, when he smashed a left-footed volley past Alisson to give his side the lead. Both sides made a change following the goal, with Trey Nyoni replacing Wirtz for the Reds, whilst O’Reilly made way for Gvardiol.
One quickly became two for City, when Doku cut inside from the left wing before curling a frankly sensational strike into the top corner. A double change for Liverpool came with 15 minutes left on the clock, which saw Rio Ngumoha and Jeremie Frimpong replace Araujo and Koumas.
A third goal quickly followed for City, when Cherki finished off an outstanding passing move, in which every Manchester City player touched the ball, by squeezing his shot under Alisson to put his side 3-0 to the good.
Muñoz looked to drive Liverpool forward late in the day, but he was brought down by Ayyoub Bouaddi, who received a yellow card for his troubles. The resultant free-kick saw Mac Allister’s shot plucked out of the air with ease by Donnarumma.
Iraola made a double change in the 87th minute, which saw Jacquet and Bradley Barcola replaced by Joe Gomez and Federico Chiesa. Virgil Van Dijk was then shown a yellow card for wiping out Cherki in the middle of the park.
That turned out to be the final notable action of the match, with Manchester City running out 3-0 winners having capitalised on Gravenberch’s dismissal.