Man City vs Liverpool: Doku on fire as Cityzens humble Slot's expensive Reds to keep pressure on Arsenal

After Arsenal dropped points against Sunderland on Saturday night, the onus was on Manchester City to respond, especially on Pep Guardiola's 1000th game as manager.

Liverpool came into this clash on the back of two impressive wins, looking to get their season back on track after a tough spell. However, City started the sharper side and threatened early on, with Doku looking menacing down the left.

Liverpool keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili soon found himself in hot water when his knee caught Jérémy Doku in the box.

However, the Georgian shot-stopper swiftly atoned for his error, diving low to prevent Haaland from opening the scoring from the resultant penalty.

It seemed like a matter of time before City would break the deadlock, and with 29 minutes on the clock, Haaland was the man to do it, heading home Matheus Nunes’ searching ball, despite Konaté’s attempted intervention.

Liverpool thought they had equalised when an impressive header from Virgil van Dijk appeared to draw them level before the interval, only to be denied by a VAR check

City hammered home their superiority in first-half stoppage time, with Van Dijk dangling out a foot to deflect Nico González’s low effort past Mamardashvili.

Doku snuffed out any idea of a turnaround, shifting the ball to his right and bending in a delightful third for City and marking a magnificent performance with a deserved goal.