The top two teams of last season's campaign came face to face again for the second time this season. In the reverse fixture at the very beginning of this season, Manchester City came out on top. Both teams needed to bounce back from a midweek European defeat, but which team would prevail?
The City players started brightly and within 3 minutes of the game had their first chance. Edin Dzeko brushed off the challenge from Emre Can and fed in Sergio Aguero, who was ruled offside before he could get his shot away. City kept pushing high and looked a lot more alert than Liverpool, possibly due to the fact that they had a long game in the Europa League in Istanbul on Thursday.
Liverpool finally managed to get off the mark on the 9th minute after Adam Lallana was allowed a lot of space in the opposition box, but his shot was aimed straight at Joe Hart. Only a minute later, the ball landed at the feet of Lallana again. From the left hand side of the 6 yard box, right next to the goal post, it looked like nothing would come of the chance, but he managed to curl his foot around it and take his shot up and over Hart and into the top corner of the net. However, he was correctly judged to be offside, meaning that the goal didn't count.
Liverpool kept on the pressure though. In the 11th minute of the game, City's defensive frailties became apparent once again as Vincent Kompany lost the ball to Philippe Coutinho meaning that his run towards the box happened easily. He gave the ball to Raheem Sterling who found Jordan Henderson on the edge of the box in a lot of space. He made sure that his shot curled around the defender and just out of the reach of Hart to nestle in the top right corner of the net. It is definitely a goal that lives up to the captains arm band that he has been wearing recently, meaning there could be more of that type of goal to come in the future.
This seemed to be a wakeup call for City. David Silva was being instrumental in the City midfield during the first half, and not long after the Liverpool goal, he played a long ball up field to Aguero, which caused problems for the Liverpool keeper and defenders alike. Simon Mignolet decided not to go and get the ball, leaving Aguero with the chance to shoot, which he took. His shot was missed by Mignolet, but he couldn't quite get the angle right and saw the ball bounce off the far post.
It wasn't only the Liverpool defenders with the problems though. Kompany struggled to keep up with the pace of the game throughout and looked tired when he was faced with an opposition player, but on the flip side, the attacking players struggled as well. City couldn't get on the ball for long periods of time during the match and when they did, their attacks fizzed out before they could cause any problems.
Just before the half hour mark, they finally managed to put a brilliant piece of attacking play together that fully paid off. The attack started after Samir Nasri dispossessed one of the City defenders to play in Silva. He made a brilliant pass up to Aguero, who he picked out wonderfully, and all it took was a simple pass through the Liverpool defence to get Dzeko on the ball, leaving him to only slot the ball past Mignolet and into the back of the net.
The end of the first half was dominated by Liverpool though. Lazar Markovic played a through ball past the City defenders and into Lallana who was in a great position, but he couldn't get the shot right and he dragged it wide of the far post. Coutinho had another chance not long after which he tried to curl around Hart, but in the end it was an easy catch for the keeper. On the stroke of half time, Sterling was left with a lot of space around him in the box, and even after he got dispossessed, he still managed to get his shot away, but Hart was equal to it again.
City came out for the second half with all guns blazing. They were on the attack within the first minute through Pablo Zabaleta who found Aguero in the centre of the box. His header was just too high, but it looked like it would set the tone for the rest of the match, but it didn't...
After the first half, it looked like both teams were struggling to find a defining moment within the game that would give them the winner. Both teams had chances with the ball to push the opposition back and create clear cut chances, but they just couldn't do it. Lallana did have a second goal disallowed in the second half, this time for a foul committed by Martin Skrtel on Dzeko before the ball was put into the back of the net. The half was really defined for the most part by defensive errors and chances not taken.
It took until the 75th minute for the next piece of outstanding play to happen. This time the goal came from Coutinho, who scored his goal from a similar place to where Henderson had been in for his. His curling shot beat Hart, who had no chance of saving the goal, and the Liverpool fans once again saw the ball nestle into the top corner of the net.
Aguero had a chance straight after the Liverpool goal, just like he did in the first half. He was closed down to a tight angle, which wouldn't normally stop him from scoring, but this time he could only direct the ball across the face of goal and wide past the far post. City were still pushing for a goal into stoppage time. Yaya Toure used his strength to get through the challenges from the Liverpool players, and plays in Silva, but his shot is high and wide over the crossbar. The final chance of the game fell to Aguero; the one player on the pitch that everyone believed could score the equalising goal. It was very similar to Silva's chance just before, meaning that it sailed high over the crossbar and into the crowd.
This left the gap between Manchester City and Chelsea at 5 points for now, but Chelsea weren't playing a Premier League game this weekend due to the Capital One Cup final, meaning that the gap could be even bigger when their game in hand has been played. However, Liverpool's win brought them above Southampton into 5th place, meaning the race for the top four was heating up, and it is anybody's call who will be in those Champions League places come the end of the season...
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