Manchester City ended Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the season with a 3-0 win, handing Andoni Iraola his first defeat as Liverpool manager. Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored the goals, and City took full control once Liverpool were reduced to 10 men.
Liverpool
Alisson (5) could do nothing to keep out Haaland’s strike, then was beaten by a superb effort from Doku and some neat footwork from Cherki.
Ronald Araujo (5) picked up a cheap yellow card early on and will be annoyed that the first two City goals came from his side.
Virgil van Dijk (6) was often pushed out of position to help Liverpool deal with being outnumbered in midfield. He may have closed down Haaland more quickly.
Jeremy Jacquet (6) was not a bad display from a young talent, though this will have been an eye-opener against a quality City attack.
Milos Kerkez (5) battled well with Iliman Ndiaye and pushed forward regularly but lacked quality in the final third.
Alexis Mac Allister (5) grew into the game and put in a good shift but struggled once Liverpool were down to 10 men.
Ryan Gravenberch (6) came in for the injured Dominik Szoboszlai and was Liverpool’s best player until he was sent off for a second yellow card. It was a naive mistake.
Victor Munoz (7) played with real fearlessness and was an absolute nuisance for City, causing Nico O’Reilly all sorts of problems.
Florian Wirtz (4) has to do better, particularly in games of this magnitude. He was largely ineffective and made some poor decisions.
Bradley Barcola (5) was sharp on the ball and did his defensive duties but, like Wirtz, must do more in the final third.
Lewis Koumas (7) made his first Premier League start, and the 21-year-old got stuck in from the outset in an energetic display that the Anfield crowd loved.
Substitutes not used: Mamardashvili, Endo, Tsimikas, McConnell.
Manchester City
Gianluigi Donnarumma (7) had a shaky start but made a string of good saves early in the second half to deny Koumas and Gravenberch and keep the game level.
Matheus Nunes (7) was impressive and made a great tackle in the box to deny Barcola in the first half.
Ruben Dias (7) did well to weather the early storm and keep Liverpool out.
Marc Guehi (7) produced a strong performance at centre-half alongside Dias, and the pair can take satisfaction from how they defended, especially when Liverpool attacked the Kop end.
Nico O’Reilly (6) was solid going forward but had his work cut out against Munoz and was inevitably booked for a foul on him in the second half.
Elliot Anderson (7) was always showing for the ball and constantly involved. He was lucky not to be booked for pulling back Gravenberch, and he provided the assist for Doku.
Enzo Fernandez (6) forced Alisson into a good save in the first half but did not really grow into the game until Gravenberch was sent off.
Iliman Ndiaye (6) was dangerous on the ball and had a few threatening moments before being replaced by Doku.
Rayan Cherki (8) capped a day to remember for City with a lovely goal.
Antoine Semenyo (7) threatened all afternoon and was part of an attack that was simply too good for Liverpool once City had the numerical advantage.
Erling Haaland (8) had a quiet first half and missed a huge chance early in the second, but he finished emphatically to give City the lead.
Jeremy Doku (8), who came on on 56 minutes for Ndiaye, scored an absolute belter.
Substitutes not used: Rulli, Kovacic, Reis, Khusanov, Lewis.