Share

Manchester City 1-4 Liverpool: Coutinho, Firmino lead Klopp’s Etihad romp

“They were brilliant goals”, Klopp added, evidently purring at how intricate interplay led to collector’s items from his brilliant Brazilians Coutinho and Firmino.

Advertisement

Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino celebrates with teammate… Liverpool were attacking with width and penetration and Firmino latched on to the loose ball, turning the ball in from the right for Coutinho to score.

Liverpool have hammered Manchester City 4-1 in their Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

We wondered how long manager Jurgen Klopp would need to correct the mistakes that led to the November 8 defeat.

It was Klopp’s greatest day at the helm of Liverpool after the away win at Chelsea, and the Reds will believe they have the makings of a side that can complete for silverware, as City vacated top spot in the league.

The loss drops City to third in the league, behind both Manchester United and the stunning Leicester City and the Jamie Vardy phenomenon.

Liverpool’s victory moved the club into the top half of the table and Klopp admitted he had to urge his players to remember their quality with many of them “surprised” to be leading at half-time.

Saturday evening was a masterclass in that as Liverpool disrupted the hosts, forcing them to surrender possession before then pressuring them in attack.

“They did well, but everyone could see Roberto could have used one chance more maybe – they were big chances”. Yet it was the Reds who were to put the result beyond doubt, with Skrtel smashing the ball past Hart on 81minutes after a corner had only been partly cleared by the fragile City defence.

Whether you agree or not that the whole team should shoulder the responsibility, the City coach’s refusal to discuss his selection decisions with the press don’t help his cause. Coutinho now has four goals against Manchester City, and more importantly has four goals in the last three Premier League games.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is hopeful Philippe Coutinho’s injury is nothing too serious. “We tried to close the spaces where they want to play and we pressed high”.

Pellegrini told BBC Sport: “Do I understand?”

The German said: “What can I say after 4-1?”

“Two weeks ago we lost the game against Palace, now we have taken those points back”.

The Chilean said: “Today we did it all wrong – the performance, the way we defended, the way we went forward”.

Advertisement

“He was with us at Melwood, the same as Phil Coutinho, and that was the reason we played like this in a formation like this”.

Jurgen Klopp offers Coutinho injury update