90min

Twitter reacts as Man City smash sorry Liverpool

By Tom Gott

Liverpool were dismantled
Liverpool were dismantled / Michael Regan/GettyImages
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What a rollercoaster Saturday's early kick-off was.

Manchester City ran out 4-1 winners against Liverpool, coming from one goal down to secure the most comfortable of victories even without top scorer Erling Haaland, who failed a late fitness test after suffering a groin injury before the international break.

Being without Haaland obviously sounds like a problem, but this was perhaps one of City's best attacking performances of the season, reigniting the debate over the striker's fit in Pep Guardiola's squad.

Mohamed Salah put Liverpool ahead in the first half, but even as the Egyptian was celebrating, there were some fans who could feel what was coming.

The comeback began soon after as Haaland's replacement, Julian Alvarez, fired home to tie things up on the scoresheet.

The 23-year-old, who is actually older than Haaland, has had to be patient behind the Norwegian in the pecking order, but he rarely fails to make his mark when those opportunities do come.

After a tense first half, City roared into life in the second, with Kevin De Bruyne putting the Manchester side ahead inside the first 60 seconds.

Ilkay Gundogan added a third shortly after and a fourth came in from the sensational Jack Grealish, who enjoyed what may well have been his best performance in a City shirt.

While Grealish was shining, the man tasked with trying to contain him was undoubtedly having a tough afternoon.

With the game all but over, the attention turned to Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, whose decision to withdraw Salah in the second half was met with loud chants of you're getting sacked in the morning from the ecstatic home fans.

Among the Liverpool supporters, the mood wasn't much better.

Losing 4-1 against your rivals is damaging enough in the short term, but with Liverpool still trying to cling on to the £100m+ race for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, it could have serious repercussions.

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