Premier League Round 29: Man City wins big

Coming from behind to beat Liverpool 4-1 in round 29 of the Premier League on the evening of April 1 at Etihad Stadium, Man City has 64 points and temporarily narrowed the gap with the top team Arsenal to 5 points.

The most recent confrontation between Man City and Liverpool took place on December 22, 2022, when the Etihad team won 3-2. Statistics show that 5/6 of the most recent matches between Man City and Liverpool have had 4 or more goals scored. If Man City wins this match, they will narrow the gap with the top team Arsenal to 5 points; meanwhile, if they have 3 points, Liverpool will close in on 5th place Newcastle.

After a two-week break to make way for national team matches, the Premier League returns with round 29 matches, with the highlight being the clash between Man City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium. The two most recent champions of the tournament have always created eye-catching attacking football feasts for fans and this match is expected to be no different.

Man City are in good form with 6 consecutive wins. Most notably, they defeated RB Leipzig and Burnley with scores of 7-0 and 6-0. Meanwhile, Liverpool entered the match with Man City as underdogs. The away team's chances of winning points are probably much lower than in previous encounters with Man City.

Force information

Man City : Phil Foden is absent due to injury. De Bruyne's ability to play is still uncertain.

Liverpool : Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic, Tsimikas, Luis Diaz are injured. Striker Darwin Nunez is ready to return.

Starting lineup

Man City (4-3-3) : Ederson, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Kevin de Bruyne, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez, Jack Grealish.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1) : Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil Van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Mohamed Salah, Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo.

Line-up:

Man City: Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Grealish, Alvarez.

Subs: Ortega, Walker, Phillips, Laporte, Bernardo, Gomez, Perrone, Palmer, Lewis.

Liverpool: Alisson, Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate, Alexander Arnold, Elliott, Henderson, Fabinho, Gakpo, Jota, Salah.

Subs: Kelleher, Gomez, Milner, Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tsimikas, Nunez, Arthur, Matip.

Liverpool players arrive at Etihad Stadium. Video : liverpoolfc.com

Referee: Simon Hooper

Line referees: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long

VAR Referee: John Brooks

Away team Liverpool enter the Etihad Stadium to warm up before the match. Video: liverpoolfc.com

THE MATCH BEGINS

Minute 1 : The home team Man City in their traditional blue shirt, white shorts, and blue socks kicked off first. Meanwhile, the away team Liverpool took to the field in red shirts, red shorts, and red socks.

Minute 6 : During an attack, Jack Grealish was fouled by Fabinho from about 30 meters away. Man City coordinated a good free kick, the ball reached Julian Alvarez's feet in the penalty area. However, the Argentine striker put the ball in quite lightly and did not trouble goalkeeper Alisson.

Minute 8 : Since the beginning of the match, midfielder Fabinho has committed 3 fouls on Man City players. Immediately, the referee warned the Liverpool player.

Minute 9: From Man City's brilliant attack, the ball came to Ilkay Gundogan's feet in the penalty area and the German midfielder passed the ball back to his teammate. Unfortunately, goalkeeper Alisson predicted and caught the ball in time.

Minute 11: Having a chance at the 16m50 line, Man City midfielder Rodri immediately took a very strong shot. However, the ball went right into goalkeeper Alisson's position and did not cause any danger. This was the first shot of the match.

DANGER!

Minute 13: Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne was fouled 20 metres away and the referee immediately blew the whistle for Man City. On the free kick, striker Riyad Mahrez had a beautiful curling shot but the ball went just wide.

Minute 16: Liverpool responded. Striker Mohamed Salah fired a shot into the box but the ball was blocked by the Man City defense.

Mohamed Salah opens the scoring!

Minute 17: From a quick counter-attack, striker Diogo Jota quickly broke away and created a favorable wall for his teammate. Immediately, striker Mohamed Salah rushed forward very quickly, making a beautiful left-footed curler to open the score for Liverpool.

Minute 21: From the left wing, Man City was very close to scoring but the home team's strikers missed the ball one after another. Just one minute later, Riyad Mahrez had a good chance but the Man City striker's shot went high into the sky.

Minute 26: Man City was awarded the first corner of the match but could not take advantage of the opportunity. The ball was cleared and striker Mohamed Salah accelerated to counterattack quickly for Liverpool but his final move could not get past the Man City defender.

Julian Alvarez equalizes 1-1

Minute 27: From Kevin De Bruyne's attack, the ball was passed through Ilkay Gundogan and then Jack Grealish. In the decisive situation, Jack Grealish crossed from the left wing for Julian Alvarez to easily tap the ball in to equalize 1-1 for Man City.

Minute 33: Man City midfielder Rodri received a yellow card after pulling someone to stop Liverpool's counter-attack.

Minute 34: Midfielder Rodri continued to pull his opponent's body to block the opponent's counter-attack. Immediately, the Liverpool player rushed towards the referee to demand a second yellow card for Rodri. However, the main referee Simon Hooper only gave a warning to the Man City player.

Minute 39: Defender Alexander-Arnold committed two consecutive fouls on striker Jack Grealish. However, the Liverpool player was only warned by the referee. The match is tense and fierce.

Minute 44: Man City had a good attack, the ball reached Ilkay Gundogan before the 16m50 line and the German midfielder fired a very powerful shot. However, midfielder Fabinho had a chance to block a dangerous ball towards Liverpool's goal.

HALF 1 ENDED!

The score between Man City and Liverpool is temporarily 1-1.

SECOND HALF BEGINS

Neither Man City nor Liverpool have made any substitutions.

Kevin De Bruyne scores!

Minute 46: Striker Julian Alvarez has a very classy long pass, the ball reaches Riyad Mahrez in an empty position on the right wing. Immediately, Riyad Mahrez has a favorable cross for Kevin De Bruyne to score, raising the score to 2-1 for Man City.

Minute 49: Cody Gakpo made a good move and created a chance to face the goalkeeper, but the Dutch striker's shot could not beat Ederson. However, the linesman quickly raised his flag for offside against the Liverpool striker.

Ilkay Gundogan makes it 3-1

Minute 53: From a tricky dribble by Riyad Mahrez, striker Julian Alvarez had a chance to shoot in the penalty area but could not get past Liverpool's defense. The ball bounced back and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan was in the right place to finish from about 5 meters away to raise the score to 3-1 for Man City.

Minute 59: Liverpool had a good attack on the left wing but Andy Robertson's cross was inaccurate. Then, Cody Gakpo rushed to fight for the ball and fell in the Man City penalty area but the referee waved him off.

Minute 60: With the ball in the penalty area on the left wing, Man City player Jack Grealish unleashed a tricky right-footed shot, forcing goalkeeper Alisson to dive and punch the ball away.

Minute 64: Despite leading Liverpool 3-1, Man City still dominated the ball possession with 63%. The Etihad team also had 12 shots, 5 of which were on target.

Minute 70: Liverpool made four consecutive substitutions. Kostas Tsimikas, Roberto Firmino, Darwin Nunez and Oxlade-Chamberlain were brought onto the pitch one after another. Mohamed Salah, who scored the opening goal of the match, was also withdrawn.

Jack Grealish increases the gap

Minute 74: Kevin De Bruyne sparked a quick counter-attack and it was this player who made a favorable pass for Jack Grealish to run in and finish in the penalty area, the ball went dangerously past goalkeeper Alisson. The score was 4-1 for Man City.

Minute 79: Man City have not made any substitutions yet, while Liverpool are about to make their final change. James Milner will be the player that coach Klopp trusts in the final minutes.

Minute 83: James Milner came on for Cody Gakpo. Meanwhile, Man City took Rodri off and brought on midfielder Bernardo Silva.

Minute 82: From a favorable pass from Kevin De Bruyne, Man City striker Jack Grealish improvised a volley. The ball went hard but right into goalkeeper Alisson's position.

Minute 89: Man City player Jack Grealish was taken off and replaced by Cole Palmer.

Minute 87: Man City deliberately played slowly to control the ball, then suddenly accelerated the counter-attack. Meanwhile, Liverpool also lost their motivation to play and seemed to have accepted defeat.

The match has 3 minutes of extra time. Victory is already in Man City's hands.

MATCH OVER

In the end, Man City beat Liverpool 4-1. The result helped the Etihad team to 64 points, reducing the gap with the leading team Arsenal to 5 points. Meanwhile, the loss above made Liverpool's 6th place very easy to be replaced by Brighton & Hove Albion.

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