Man City reached the EFL Cup quarter-final with a hard-fought win over the Reds.
Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-2 in their EFL Cup match on Thursday. A tense last-16 match saw Liverpool score two equalizers but fail to complete their comeback.
Liverpool crash out of EFL Cup!
Following their poor results in the first half of the season, Liverpool hoped to claim a statement win in their first match after the World Cup.
But City showed they had come for the victory right from the start. Following a cross from Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland opened the scoring for the Citizens in the 11th minute.
But Liverpool managed to bounce back quickly, scoring the equalizer through Fabio Carvalho only ten minutes later.
City had a few more chances to restore their lead in the first period. But they had to wait until the 47th minute to score their second goal of the night.
A brilliant shot from Riyad Mahrez saw the Citizens make it 2-1. But Liverpool got back into the game only a minute later.
Following a quick run and assist from Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah levelled the result again for Liverpool. But the Reds weren’t able to hold back City’s pressure to score their third goal.
Another assist from De Bruyne saw Nathan Ake make it 3-2 just before the hour-mark as Liverpool went behind again.
The Reds pushed hard to get back into the game in the final 20 minutes. But missed chances from Nunez and Salah saw them crash out of the EFL Cup after a frustrating defeat against the Premier League champions.
Player Ratings
Man City: Ortega (5), Lewis (6), Akanji (5), Laporte (7), Ake (7), Rodrigo (8), De Bruyne (9), Gundogan (6), Mahrez (7), Haaland (7), Palmer (6).
Bench: Stones (7), B. Silva (-), Grealish (6), Foden (6).
Liverpool: Kelleher (7); Milner (6), Gomez (5), Matip (6), Robertson (6); Bajcetic (5), Thiago (6), Elliott (5); Carvalho (7), Salah (7), Nunez (6).
Bench: Phillips (7), Henderson (6), Oxlade-Chamberlain (5), Fabinho (7), Keita (6).
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