“I expected more goals, but it was still an interesting clash between Liverpool and Manchester City. I expected Liverpool to defend and then try to come up with something up front. They succeeded. Salah didn’t convert the first chance, but he did the second.
In that situation, Joao Cancelo, who defended Salah, made a huge mistake. He should have behaved differently, and not so hastily, needlessly started after him. If he had stood behind him and let him work the ball, Salah would not have gotten into this situation at all. It was a tactless thing for him to do.
Most teams already play one-on-one in the attacking standard situation at the back, I wouldn’t see a mistake there. Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson quickly kicked the ball, Salah easily got into the attack over the opponent. Cancelo wanted to play the ball, all he had to do was stop the Reds striker, many City players rolled backwards.
Salah then solved it brilliantly, he learned from the previous situation, goalkeeper Ederson had absolutely no chance. Had a hat-trick against Rangers in the Champions League the week before, he’s getting comfortable.
But City played well, Haaland had several chances, at least they deserved a point. They also scored a goal that was disallowed after a somewhat controversial foul by Haaland on Fabinho. I don’t know if the goal should have been disallowed. Yes, when we see the situation on video, we can probably say that it was a light foul. But there are countless such fights in the middle of the pitch.
Many players use their hands to get ahead of their opponents. It seemed to me that Fabinho himself lost his balance. These are minor fouls, the referee should judge it himself on the pitch. If he didn’t see the foul, he should have let it go. For me, that goal could easily pay off.
In the end, there were huge emotions on the field, but that is part of such matches. Liverpool manager Klopp was sent off for one tackle that wasn’t whistled and he ran after the referee and started shouting at him, it was over the top. But otherwise nothing went wrong, it was a lot, Liverpool had not been doing so well until then, it can turn the season around. I get it. And what happens on the field stays there.
Defeat does not change plans for City, they will move on. They forget, they didn’t play badly. The season is still long and they will be looking to pick up the points they dropped at Anfield when they face Arsenal, who are leading the Premier League so far.
Arsenal managed a game in Leeds at the weekend, although they did not do so well. But such victories, when you do not play optimally, are held by the goalkeeper and survive a penalty, are all the more valuable. If you want to win the Premier League, you need luck to be on your side every now and then.
The Gunners are in different form and had a great start to the season. They gained self-confidence, and thus began to believe in themselves more. When you’re in that frame of mind, you know you’ll extract wins even from matches where you’re not doing so well.
It paid off for them to believe in coach Arteta, to give him confidence and space. They have tremendous quality, the younger players are growing up, they have added a great striker Jesus, who works for the team and is hugely valuable. I believe that Arsenal will keep the pace and can grab the title this season. With City, I think they are the biggest favorites in the Premier League.”
