Manchester City consigned Liverpool to their first defeat under Andoni Iraola, with Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki all scoring. Liverpool’s task became much harder after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for a second yellow card, and City took full advantage of the extra man.
How the Liverpool players rated
Alisson (5) could do nothing to keep out Haaland’s strike, then was beaten by a superb effort from Doku and some neat footwork from Cherki. Ronald Araujo (5) picked up an early yellow card and will be frustrated that the first two City goals came from his side of the pitch.
Virgil van Dijk (6) was often pulled out of position to help Liverpool deal with being outnumbered in midfield, and perhaps could have closed down Haaland more quickly. Jeremy Jacquet (6) was not a bad performer, but this was a real eye-opener against a quality City attack.
Milos Kerkez (5) battled well with Iliman Ndiaye and pushed forward regularly but lacked quality in the final third. Alexis Mac Allister (5) grew into the game and put in a good shift but struggled once Liverpool were reduced to 10 men.
Ryan Gravenberch (6) came in for the injured Dominik Szoboszlai and was Liverpool’s best player until his dismissal for a second yellow card, which was a naive error. Victor Munoz (7) played with real fearlessness and was an absolute nuisance for City, causing Nico O’Reilly all sorts of problems.
Florian Wirtz (4) has to do better, particularly in games of this magnitude, and was largely ineffective with several poor decisions. Bradley Barcola (5) was sharp on the ball and did his defensive duties but, like Wirtz, needed to do more in the final third. Lewis Koumas (7) made his first Premier League start and got stuck in from the outset, producing an energetic display that the Anfield crowd loved.
How the Manchester City players rated
Gianluigi Donnarumma (7) had a shaky start but made a string of good saves early in the second half to deny Koumas and Gravenberch and keep the game level. Matheus Nunes (7) was impressive and made a great tackle in the box to deny Barcola in the first half.
Ruben Dias (7) did well to weather the early storm, and Marc Guehi (7) produced a strong performance at centre-half, taking satisfaction from the way the pair defended, especially when Liverpool attacked The Kop end. Nico O’Reilly (6) was solid going forward but had his work cut out against Munoz and was booked for a foul on the Spaniard in the second half.
Elliot Anderson (7) was always available for the ball and constantly involved, and he was lucky not to be booked for pulling back Gravenberch. He also set up Doku’s goal. Enzo Fernandez (6) forced Alisson into a good save in the first half but did not really grow into the game until Gravenberch was sent off.
Iliman Ndiaye (6) was dangerous on the ball and had a few threatening moments before being replaced by Doku. Doku (8) came on in the 56th minute and scored an absolute belter. Rayan Cherki (8) capped a day to remember for City with a lovely goal.
Antoine Semenyo (7) was threatening all afternoon and was part of an attack that proved too good for Liverpool once City had the man advantage. Erling Haaland (8) had a quiet first half and missed a huge chance early in the second, but he finished emphatically to give City the lead.
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