Nathan Ake’s header proved decisive on Thursday as Manchester City knocked holders Liverpool out of the EFL Cup in a dramatic 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium.
The round-of-16 clash marked the return to competitive action of two of English soccer’s heavyweights following the FIFA World Cup break, with City’s Kevin de Bruyne the outstanding player in a high-class field.
English Premier League champions City twice led through Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez, only for Liverpool to waste little time in drawing level thanks to goals from Fabio Carvalho and Mohamed Saleh, but after Ake made it 3-2 shortly before the hour mark, the visitors were unable to fashion a third equalizer.
Photo: Reuters
“After the World Cup and a long time of not playing, both teams were incredible, with high level and intensity,” City manager Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports. “Liverpool are so difficult, when they play good they destroy you.”
“Kevin played with a fire inside of him. He had to find it. What a player. How many years he’s been coming here? Eight years? He’s an absolute legend,” he said.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp had no qualms in saying City are a “super, super, super side, who do things extremely well,” but still lamented his team’s defending.
“The goals we conceded were completely unnecessary... We played a good game, but not good enough to beat City tonight,” Klopp said. “There’s a lot we can build on and we can take into the next games, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Guardiola named six World Cup players in his starting 11. Ake, Manuel Akanji, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri, De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan were all involved from the kickoff.
Klopp, whose side pipped Chelsea 11-10 in a marathon penalty shoot-out at Wembley in February as the Reds won the EFL Cup for a record ninth time, also named a strong side. The German’s forward line included Salah, making his first appearance in the EFL Cup outside of finals since October 2020, Darwin Nunez and Carvalho.
Haaland and Cole Palmer both missed the target when well-placed to score early on, but it was not long before the Norway star made amends.
Haaland, seemingly given a free run against Liverpool’s defense, turned in De Bruyne’s near-post cross in the 10th minute after getting in front of Joe Gomez to score his 24th goal of the season.
However, Liverpool were level within 10 minutes when Carvalho finished from a James Milner cross after the former City midfielder was allowed too much room in the penalty area.
The visitors made two changes at halftime, Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain coming on for novice midfielder Stefan Bajcetic and Carvalho, but Liverpool fell behind again before either of the two substitutes could get into the game.
Only 76 seconds into the second half Mahrez fired home from the right side of the penalty area following a cross by Rodri.
However, City’s lead evaporated just over a minute later as Nunez sprinted past Laporte down the left, with Salah making light of a mediocre center to draw Liverpool level at 2-2.
A roller-coaster contest then saw City go ahead for the third time when, after a quickly-taken corner, Ake powered in a 58th-minute header from a superb pinpoint cross by the outstanding De Bruyne.
Oxlade-Chamberlain went down in the penalty area after a collision with Ake in the 69th minute, but David Coote denied the Reds a spot-kick and, with the video assistant referee not in use, the referee’s decision stood.
Liverpool had an excellent chance to make it 3-3 when a superb ball from Naby Keita left the onside Nunez free down the right touchline, but after sprinting clear of the City defense, Nunez, albeit from an acute angle, pulled his shot wide of the far post.
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
RSS