Man City 2-1 Liverpool: 5 things we learned as Sane closes the gap
Manchester City beat Liverpool to pull to within four points of the Reds in the Premier League title race and end the visitors' unbeaten run.
Liverpool hadn't lost a Premier League game all season, but Leroy Sane's second-half winner was enough to end the last remaining invincible streak in the English top flight.
Sergio Aguero had put City in front despite Liverpool's impressive start and they took that into the break.
But when Roberto Firmino equalised this top-of-the-table clash seemed up in the air once more. Sane's brilliant winner settled the fixture but only served to muddy the championship picture, but what did we learn?
Here are five things…..
1. Man City target Lovren with some success
Perhaps Manchester City weren't necessarily targeting Dejan Lovren but avoiding Virgil van Dijk?
Either way, the effect was the same.
Aguero's Touch Map so far is interesting. He won't be the only striker this season to avoid going near left sided CB Van Dijk! He's very much 'playing on' Lovren. pic.twitter.com/ZhvidhLE5O
— Adrian Clarke (@adrianjclarke) January 3, 2019
As noted by the Premier League's Adrian Clarke on this touch map, it was obvious that Aguero was lurking on the shoulder of the inconsistent Lovren rather than trying to match up against the imperious Dutchman.
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The result, eventually, was the half-yard of space he needed to drive home a left-footed half-volley at the near post and open the scoring.
Margins are often slim in this game but the difference between being able to get across the Croat and Van Dijk in that situation was enough for Aguero to jam the opener past Alisson and give City a lead their overall performance had probably not deserved.
Sergio Aguero fires the ball into the roof of the net (PA)
Aguero would have got a second later in the game after besting Lovren, only for Alisson to make an impressive save. Bernardo Silva also robbed Lovren late in the 90th minute when the hosts should have put the result beyond doubt.
It would be harsh to say that Lovren cost Liverpool this game but he was clearly their weak spot and City attempted to make the most of that.
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2. Shaqiri's good form not enough to keep his place
Xherdan Shaqiri was omitted from the starting line-up (PA)
There had always been the feeling that Xherdan Shaqiri, for all his good form, was still considered the odd man out of Liverpool's explosive attack.
Today proved it.
With a potential title on the line, one of the league's most in-form offensive players was forced to make do with a spot on the bench as Jurgne Klopp stuck with a 4-3-3 and what the Spanish might call his 'gala XI'.
It meant Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino as a front three, which was as dangerous a combination as ever but not enough to get on the scoresheet against City – even if they came within millimetres of doing so.
Eventually Klopp called for the Swiss as City took control in the second half but it was too late to make the desired impact.
3. The margins that define the Premier League are narrow…
….millimetres in fact.
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Manchester City's poor start should have been punished in rather unorthodox fashion when Stones' clearance clattered into Ederson and the ball looped over his head – almost in slow motion – and over the goal line.
That a tiny portion of the ball hung over the line and not fully past it was nothing but dumb luck, but it is those tiny little moments that so often prove crucial come May.
Had Riyad Mahrez not ballooned over the crossbar earlier this season then things would be even closer but now the title race is narrowing and the margin for error is minuscule. What would Liverpool have given for Mo Salah to put his whole body into that bouncing ball to make sure it hit the net, giving them a deserved lead away from home against their biggest rivals for the title?
We'll never know. But we do know how close they came: 11mm, according to the Premier League's official measurement.
John Stones clears the ball off the line… just (Sky Sports)
Tags Liverpool Man City premier league Sane
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