Erling Haaland continued his goal-scoring form as he helped Man City produce one of the high-scoring football scores of the weekend in the Carabao Cup. The World Cup break prevented City and Liverpool from competing competitively for a month, but they quickly resumed play when Fabio Carvalho (20) canceled out Erling Haaland (10), who had scored the opening goal. After the break, Riyad Mahrez gave City the lead back with a nudge, but within 47 seconds Mohamed Salah had leveled the score for Liverpool thanks to Darwin Nunez’s cut-back after a quick counterattack. But after Kevin De Bruyne’s cross, which was his second assist of the game, an unmarked Ake popped up at the back post to nod in the game-winning goal (58), ending the Reds’ five-game winning streak in this match.
After the game began, Liverpool nearly lost without even touching the ball, but Haaland’s mishandled chip when through on goal gave them a reprieve. Virgil van Dijk’s absence allowed Haaland to capitalize as Joel Matip and Joe Gomez tried to contain the City attacker while maintaining a high line. Five minutes after his failed opportunity, Haaland came close to setting up Cole Palmer, but the young player struggled to control his cut-back in a good position.
After 10 minutes, Haaland took advantage of Liverpool’s sluggish start by slipping past Gomez to meet De Bruyne’s left-footed cross and give City the lead. Prior to Carvalho’s delicately placed equalizer from just outside the penalty area, Liverpool was completely at sea. The 20-year-old was given the ball by James Milner after Matip made an incisive pass that forced five City players to leave the contest. Both teams had opportunities to go ahead before halftime, but Caohmin Kelleher made a deft low save to keep Ilkay Gundogan from scoring, and Darwin Nunez of Liverpool missed two opportunities.
After 47 minutes, Mahrez scored with an exquisite first touch and finish to give City an exciting start to the second half. However, Liverpool answered less than a minute later when Nunez set up Salah to tie the football scores again. Around the hour mark, Liverpool was made to pay for sloppy defense as De Bruyne recovered possession from a short corner and found Ake alone at the back post, allowing the Netherlands defender to head in the game-winning goal. Nunez blew another golden opportunity in the second half, continuing his miserable start to life in a Liverpool uniform after the World Cup break. Liverpool’s record of nine Carabao Cup victories may be matched by City if they win the tournament.
“Both teams were fantastic with a high level of intensity following the World Cup and a lengthy absence from competition,” Pep Guardiola said. “Liverpool is so challenging; when they perform well, they wipe you out. They have opportunities because of the quality of their transitions. Huge props to the players they faced up against. If you don’t play in this beat, it’s tough to muster the guts.”
“The first 15 minutes were undoubtedly difficult. We used a formation that was unfamiliar to us. It helps that we have Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the wing and Roberto Firmino in the center throughout the preseason. Following the previous session, we then had to change. It was clear that we needed time to adjust,” Jurgen Klopp said. “We had our moments when we were compact. They are a super, super, super team that excels at whatever they do. You must be quite precise in the middle of the field. We really struggled during the opening 15 minutes, which killed our confidence and belief. All right for halftime. They score the second goal with the opening shot of the second half. We could have done more before Riyad Mahrez’s performance, which was of the highest caliber.”
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