Manchester City celebrated Josep Guardiola’s 1,000th game as manager with a 3-0 win over Liverpool, moving them within four points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Erling Haaland missed and avoided an early penalty on Sunday to head home his 99th Premier League goal before Nico Gonzalez’s deflected shot and Jeremy Doku’s stunning strike established City as Arsenal’s main title rivals.
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Liverpool have lost four of their last five league games and sit in eighth place, eight points behind the defending champions.
Arsenal’s 10-game winning streak ended with a 2-2 draw at Sunderland on Saturday, with Guardiola’s side taking full advantage of a battle between the two sides that have dominated the Premier League for the past decade.
Even if the decision went against Arne Slott’s side, it was yet another indication of how far they have fallen since their 2-0 win at the Etihad in February.
The Reds had shown signs of resurgence, defeating Aston Villa and Real Madrid in the past eight days, but there was no answer to the deftness of a rejuvenated City side, who have won 11 of their last 14 games in all competitions.
On Tuesday, Conor Bradley thwarted the threat of Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, but was given intense minutes by the pace and trickery of Doc, who broke through City’s left flank.
Early in the first half, Doc made the most of Ibrahima Konate’s clearance from Bradley to get around Giorgi Mamadashvili before his follow-up leg was clipped by the Georgian.
Referee Chris Kavanagh was initially unfazed, but pointed out the spot after a VAR check.
Haaland has already scored 28 goals for club and country this season, but is yet to score a spot goal for City in 2025/26.
Mamadashvili made amends by dropping low to the left and safely converting the Norwegian’s penalty, briefly lifting the spirits of the Liverpool players and the away supporters.
However, Rayan Cherki’s shot was deflected wide and Mamadashvili once again put Doc’s shot into the side netting, giving City the upper hand.
Haaland has failed to score in just two of his 18 appearances this season, finishing off with a looping header in the 29th minute after a superb effort from Matheus Nunez.
Liverpool thought they had equalized nine minutes later when Van Dijk’s header from a corner kick slotted into the far corner.
However, Andy Robertson was adjudged to have evaded the captain’s shot and interfered with Gianluigi Donnarumma from an offside position.
Instead of playing fair, City rubbed salt into the wound of Liverpool’s perceived injustice.
The visitors were slow to get out of a corner and Gonzalez had time to take aim, but his shot deflected off Van Dijk and into Mamadashvili’s right leg.
Liverpool were the only ones unable to get back into the game early in the second period as Kodi Gakpo slotted the ball wide of the net after a great move involving Mohamed Salah and Bradley.
However, Doc produced perhaps his best performance in his three seasons at City, sealing a clear victory.
The Belgian dived inside the wide-legged Konate, curled up from outside the box and fired into the top corner.
Salah summed up Liverpool’s day and the season so far when he converted a great chance with 10 minutes remaining.
Despite the visiting team needing goals, Slott left £125m striker Alexander Isak on the bench for the duration of the game, citing a lack of match fitness.
The decision to spend nearly 450 million pounds ($342 million) in the transfer market and tear apart a team that was well on its way to the title looks even more misguided in some matches, with Liverpool embroiled in a fight to just get into the top four rather than a title fight.
After the match, Doc told Sky Sports that he was very happy with his team’s performance.
“(Dominating matches) is always good for confidence, but I have great players around me, which makes me want to do more in every match and want to improve every day,” he said.
Van Dijk said Liverpool struggled to recover from a difficult first half.
“Our pressing wasn’t good enough. We should have been better. We need to find more consistency. Losing always hurts, but especially 3-0,” he said.
“There were some good moments in the game, but when we play Man City at home it can be a very difficult game. We should focus on reflecting on this when we come back and play again.”
Aston Villa beat Bournemouth 4-0 earlier on Sunday to move into seventh place in the Premier League on Sunday, but Newcastle United’s domestic poor run continued with defeat to Brentford.
Nottingham Forest came from behind to beat Leeds United 3-1 at the City Ground, ending a Premier League winless run that stretches back to the first weekend of the season.
Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park.
