By Emmanuel Ebimoh
The shouts and celebrations at Anfield rose above the skies as Liverpool pinned down the champions, Manchester City in what was nothing short of an exhilarating football spectacle. It was fast paced, end-to-end entertainment from start to finish, packed with absolute quality as the two best teams in England at the moment locked horns for glory and supremacy.
With just 12 games into the season, Liverpool have raced into an eight points lead at the top of the table and they look fresh as real contenders to wrestle the title away from the champions. Both teams had only one thing in mind coming into the game – victory! However, on football nights as this, all the forces of luck and excellence have to work in tandem to ensure victory, and Liverpool had them in full to their favour.
The game started as we expected with the fire powers being shot from the first minute. And it took just six minutes before the first piercing bullet was fired. Manchester City had a penalty shout when the ball bounced off the thigh of Trent Alexander-Arnold and onto his hand in the box. Referee, Michael Oliver waved the penalty shouts aside and immediately the ball was in the other end of the field. Liverpool midfielder collected a poorly cleared ball about 25 yards out and fired a thunderous strike past goal keeper, Claudio Bravo.
Manchester City did not see it coming.
Seven minutes later, it was 2-0. Andy Robertson raced in clear on the left wing and delivered a delicious cross into the path of Mohammed Salah, who nodded the ball into the an almost empty net. Manchester City came out with everything they had, creating chance after chance but that all-important goal they sought eluded them.
Into the second half, City came out flying as they did in the first half, seeking for a goal. But just like it was earlier, Liverpool struck the heavy punch again. This time, captain Jordan Henderson peeled away from the right wing and pulled a deft cross that flew directly onto the waiting head of Sadio Mane. The Senegalese International made no mistake as he gave Bravo no chance for the third goal of the match, making it 3-0.
Anfield erupted. The rainbow of victory was clear. Celebration chants filled the atmosphere. The Reds looked ready to go nine points ahead of their main rival to the title. Their coach, Jurgen Klopp couldn’t have asked for a sweeter victory.
Manchester City, however, were not going down without a fight. Their pressure paid off when Bernado Silva struck a low shot in the box from Angelino’s deflected cross past Liverpool goalkeeper, Alisson, to bring the scores to a respectable margin.
In the end, Liverpool held on to a well-deserved 3-1 victory, giving them a huge hope in the race for the most coveted trophy in England.
