Manchester City beat Liverpool, handing Andoni Iraola’s side their first defeat of the season. Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki all scored as City cruised to victory at Anfield, despite Liverpool being reduced to 10 men.
City took control once Liverpool lost the numerical battle in midfield. Ryan Gravenberch, who had come in for the injured Dominik Szoboszlai, was sent off for a second yellow card, and Liverpool struggled to cope from that point on.
Liverpool player ratings
Alisson (5) could do nothing to keep out Haaland’s strike and was then beaten by a beauty from Doku and some solid footwork from Cherki.
Ronald Araujo (5) picked up a cheap early yellow card and will be annoyed that the first two City goals came from his side.
Virgil van Dijk (6) was often pushed out of position to help Liverpool deal with being outnumbered in midfield, and perhaps could have closed Haaland down more quickly.
Jeremy Jacquet (6) was not a bad display from a young talent, though this was a real eye-opener against a quality City attack.
Milos Kerkez (5) battled well with Iliman Ndiaye and pushed up 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 went down to 10 men.
Ryan Gravenberch (6) was Liverpool’s best player until his dismissal, which was naive on his part.
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. He was largely ineffective and made some poor decisions.
Bradley Barcola (5) was sharp on the ball and did his defensive duties but, like Wirtz, must do more in the final third.
Lewis Koumas (7) made his first Premier League start and the 21-year-old got stuck in from the outset in an energetic display that was loved by the Anfield crowd.
Manchester City player ratings
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 keep Liverpool out.
Marc Guehi (7) produced a strong performance at centre-half alongside Dias and can take 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 fouling him in the second half.
Elliot Anderson (7) always showed for the ball and was constantly involved. He was lucky not to be booked for pulling Gravenberch back, and he provided the assist for Doku.
Enzo Fernandez (6) forced Alisson into a good stop 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.
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 was simply 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.
Jeremy Doku (8), who came on on 56 minutes for Ndiaye, scored an absolute belter.
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