Manchester City were convincing winners over Chelsea (Martin Rickett/PA). LiveScore reported that City coped without the injured Erling Haaland to keep the Premier League title race alive, coming from behind to thrash Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday. Goals from Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan and Jack Grealish moved the defending champions back to within five points of Arsenal at the top of the table.
City and Liverpool have finished as the top two in four of the past five Premier League seasons, but the Reds are now struggling just to qualify for the Champions League after a dreadful campaign. The defeat left Jurgen Klopp’s men seven points adrift of the top four, down in sixth place. A groin injury kept Haaland on the sidelines, watching from the stands alongside his father and former City midfielder Alfie Haaland. Despite the absence of their 42‑goal striker, Pep Guardiola’s side made a positive start, with Alisson Berger forced into saves from Gündogan and Rodri before Riyad Mahrez fired a free‑kick inches wide.
Liverpool, however, struck first on the counter‑attack in the 17th minute. Diogo Jota broke behind the City defence and set up Mohamed Salah, who slotted home his 23rd goal of the season. A VAR review confirmed that Manuel Akanji had played the Portuguese forward onside. Guardiola was on his knees when Mahrez blasted over another great chance, but his side soon showed their quality even without Haaland. De Bruyne, Mahrez and Grealish combined to create space, and Alvarez finished with his 13th goal of the season, despite spending most of the campaign as Haaland’s deputy.
Only 53 seconds into the second half, City took the lead again through another scintillating team move. Alvarez delivered a cross‑field pass that freed Mahrez to race into space behind Liverpool’s defence. Mahrez’s perfectly weighted cross found De Bruyne, who tapped the ball into an unguarded net. While City’s first two goals stemmed from collective brilliance, Liverpool’s third‑goal effort highlighted their defensive woes. Alvarez enjoyed ample time inside the box, and after his shot was blocked by Trent Alexander‑Arnold, Gündogan took a touch and fired into the top corner.
Liverpool have now conceded three or more goals in nine games this season. The punishment continued for the visitors as Grealish delivered the standout performance of the day, rounding off arguably his best showing as a City player with the fourth goal. City’s off‑the‑ball movement proved too good for a cumbersome Liverpool defence; Grealish and De Bruyne exchanged a one‑two before the Premier League’s most expensive player of all time side‑footed the ball into the far corner.
Arsenal, who face Leeds later on Saturday, maintain the upper hand in the title race. However, City could be hitting form at the right time, having scored 17 goals in their last three games, with Arsenal still to visit the Etihad later this month.
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