Red Over Blue Again & Into CL Semis

Sports - Football - Champions League - MCI 1:2 LIV

Liverpool booked their place in the Champions League semi-final for the first time in a decade after coming back from behind to beat Manchester City 1-2 in the quarter-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night, thrashing them 1-5 on aggregate. 

Mohamed Salah started for the Reds after missing out the goalless Merseyside derby on Saturday due to injury, whilst the Citizens made four changes to the side that lost the mad Manchester derby at the weekend with Sergio Agüero on the bench.

And the home side could not have asked for a better start after their shock in the first leg at Anfield, Virgil Van Dijk losing the ball looking for a free kick, former Red Raheem Sterling ripping through the visitors, given too much space to run and provide Gabriel Jesus who netted the opener after just one minute and 57 seconds! Too easy!

Kevin De Bruyne sent a chance high soon after, before Sadio Mané and Nicolas Otamendi collided, City keeper Ederson Moraes getting involved and pushing the Senegalese again and again, both names were added to the referee's book after just 14 minutes.

It was a feisty, breathtaking start, the home side dominating and pressing, testing the visitors again and again, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dejan Lovren and Andrew Robertson dealing and coping well with all the pressure, clearing the ball again and again, top class.

Sterling went down too easy too many times, desperately looking for trouble against Robertson, the referee had a word, whilst Alexander-Arnold and Bernardo Silva were cautioned for choking Leroy Sané and verbal protests respectively.

Roberto Firmino was also booked for catching De Bruyne too late, the Belgian too quick for the Brazilian striker on the counter before Liverpool finally got their first shot on target with nearly 40 minutes on the clock, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain serving Ederson an easy catch.

The first half ended as crazy as it started, Bernardo Silva hitting the bar before Jesus' shot was blocked, James Milner with the last touch and Loris Karius nowhere near, Sané netting the rebound, but the flag was up, goal disallowed.

The Ox and Salah combined well in the final seconds before the interval, a nice one-two and rare Red combo attack, but the chance went just high. It stayed 1-0 at half-time without any time added on.

Spanish referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz probably needed the break more than anyone else after a crazy 45 minutes, City boss Pep Guardiola was not happy with the officials and sent to the stands from the restart, obviously having taken his protests too far.

Jürgen Klopp could be glad it was only 1-0 but surely needed the Reds to step up if they did not want to collapse under all the pressure and after having worked so hard. And they didn't. Quite the opposite.

Their Egyptian star shined once again, beating Ederson with a lovely move and finish after collecting the ball off a falling Mané in the box, making it 1-1 with his 10th European goal and 39th in all competitions eleven minutes after the break.

Guardiola communicated with his coaching staff to make changes, Agüero and Ilkay Gündogan were brought on, the home side looking to make their continuous dominance count, but to no avail.

Firmino gave the Reds the lead with just under a quarter of an hour to go, 1-2 on the night, 1-5 on aggregate, his 24th goal of the season after Otamendi gave the ball away and Fernandinho backed away, breaking more European records.

The front duo of Salah and Firmino have both scored more goals in a single European Cup/Champions League campaign for Liverpool than any other player in the club's history (10 each = 20).

These two goals bring the Reds' total to 33 goals in the Champions League this season, the most by an English side in a single campaign.

It was just not City's night, seeing another goal disallowed for offside, correctly this time, Sané mistiming his runs too regularly, no wonder the officials kept raising their flags. 

It stayed 1-2, the Reds' persistence paying off and breaking down the Citizens once again, making it three wins out of three meetings, to reach their 18th European semi-final.

City had scored three or more goals in 12 out of their 26 home games this season, so, they are more than capable to come back from three goals down, but Klopp's men were able to stop them.

Liverpool have only lost by three or more goals three times under Klopp:

Watford 3-0 (2015)

Manchester City 5-0 (2017)

Tottenham 4-1 (2017)

The German made sure that didn't happen again this time, recording his seventh win against Guardiola, the first time the Catalonian has lost three times in a row since May 2015 with Bayern.

Next on the list for the Reds are Bournemouth at Anfield Saturday evening, surely the Kop will be bouncing still after this display - ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ! :-D

Man City Goal: de Jesus 2’.

Liverpool Goals: Salah 56’ & Firmino 77’.

Match Stats: MCFC 1-2 LFC

Possession: 68%-32%

Shots: 20-5

On target: 3-3

Corners: 9-2

Fouls: 5-7

Yellow cards: 2-4

Man City Team: 31 Ederson (booked 14’); 14 Laporte, 17 De Bruyne, 25 Fernandinho; 30 Otamendi, 2 Walker; 7 Sterling, 33 de Jesus, 21 D Silva (c) (10 Agüero 66’), 20 B Silva (booked 30’) (8 Gündogan 74’); 19 Sané. 3-2-4-1

Subs not used: 1 Bravo, 4 Kompany, 18 Delph, 35 Zinchenko, 47 Foden.

Liverpool Team: 1 Karius; 26 Robertson, 4 van Dijk (booked 65’), 6 Lovren, 66 Alexander-Arnold (booked 29’) (2 Clyne 81’); 5 Wijnaldum, 7 Milner (c), 21 Oxlade-Chamberlain; 19 Mané (booked 14’), 9 Firmino (booked 35’) (17 Klavan 81’), 11 Salah (28 Ings 89’). 4-3-3

Subs not used: 18 Moreno, 22 Mignolet, 29 Solanke, 58 Woodburn.

Referee: Antonio Miguel Matheu Lahoz

Man of the match: Mohamed Salah

Ground: Etihad Stadium

Attendance: 53,461

Click here for my last LFC match report.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match report, Sky Sports app, Twitter, BT Sport and beIN sports match coverage.

City Crush 10-Man Reds 5-0

Sports - Football - Premier League - MCFC 5:0 LFC

Liverpool were thrashed 5-0 by a ruthless Manchester City at the Etihad after seeing Sadio Mané sent off for a high kick at keeper Ederson Moraes in the first half of the lunch-time kick-off on Saturday.

The game had started competitive, both sides creating chances, putting the pressure on.

The Reds fell behind to Sergio Agüero's cool finish around Simon Mignolet in the 24th minute, the Sky Blues enjoying too much time and space with the ball.

Then eight minutes before the break, referee Jonathan Moss showed Mané red for his high challenge on Ederson, who required treatment for the cut in his face before he was replaced by Claudio Bravo.

The competition vanished from then on, City were all over Liverpool, the second half looking more like a kick-about than an actual competitive match.

Young defender Trent Alexander-Arnold didn't know what hit him, struggling to cover all the sprints, leaks and gaps, no one else marking, closing down or tackling.

Gabriel Jesus doubled the lead for the home side before the break and was handed a second by an unselfish Agüero to make it 3-0 just eight minutes after the restart.

Substitute Leroy Sané added two late goals sweeping in Benjamin Mendy's cross at the near post and curling in a left-footer to complete the 5-0 thrashing, City's biggest win over Liverpool since 1937.

The Reds just folded, collapsed, gave up, dramatically, completely, uncharacteristically.

The red card divided opinions, both managers Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola mouthing their disapproval in their post-match interviews.

It was a high, dangerous tackle, which by the book is red, full stop. And it doesn't excuse such a pathetic performance, total collapse.

After thrashing Arsenal 4-0 at Anfield before the international break, confidence was high.

Ask new signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who came on for Mohamed Salah after the interval: He became the first player to lose 4-0 and 5-0 in two consecutive Premier League games with different clubs.

This was Klopp's heaviest defeat in all competitions as Liverpool manager and his joint-heaviest ever managerial loss since October 2006 when Werder Bremen beat his Mainz 6-1.

As always after such a devastating defeat, lots of critics and protesters suddenly emerge = #KloppOut. Here's another stat:

This was the German's first Premier League defeat away from home to one of the last season's top seven sides (P10 W5 D4 L1).

So, it's not all doom and gloom, still early days. Liverpool will have to pick themselves up and learn from this.

And what better way to do this than in their next fixture, back in the beloved Champions League, group match against Sevilla on Wednesday.

Manchester City goals: Agüero 24', Jesus 45'+6 & 53', Sané 77' & 90'+1.

Liverpool: Mané sent off 37'.

Manchester City line-up: 31 Ederson (1 Bravo 45'+1), 3 Danilo, 5 Stones, 30 Otamendi (booked 6') (15 Mangala 71'), 25 Fernandinho (booked 28'), 2 Walker, 17 De Bruyne, 21 Silva, 22 Mendy, 10 Agüero, 33 Jesus (19 Sané 57').
Subs not used: 8 Gündogan, 18 Delph, 20 Bernardo Silva, 47 Foden.

Liverpool line-up: 22 Mignolet, 66 Alexander-Arnold (booked 19'), 32 Matip, 17 Klavan, 18 Moreno, 5 Wijnaldum (7 Milner 58'), 14 Henderson, 23 Can (booked 80'), 11 Salah (21 Oxlade-Chamberlain 45'), 9 Firmino (29 Solanke 67'), 19 Mané (sent off 37').
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 6 Lovren, 12 Gomez, 15 Sturridge.

Match stats: MCFC-LFC
Possession: 66%-34%
Shots: 13-7
On target: 10-3
Corners: 8-3
Fouls: 10-9
Yellow cards: 2-2
Red cards: 0-1

Referee: Jonathan Moss
Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne
Ground: Etihad
Attendance: 54,172

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pics, stats and facts were taken from the BBC match report, MOTD, SFR and Twitter coverage.

A Point & Goal Each In Etihad Thriller

Sports - Football - Premier League - MCFC 1:1 LFC

Manchester City and Liverpool fought out a pulsating draw at the Etihad, sharing a goal and point each in the race to stay in the top four for Champions League qualification.

It could have been 5-5 after end-to-end stuff, with plenty of talking points, errors, chances, misses, sitters, controversies, everything given by both sides and referee Michael Oliver not making many friends.

Click here to read my full ByTheMin live match coverage.

James Milner had given the visitors the lead from the spot not long after the interval after Roberto Firmino was brought down in the box by Gael Clichy with a high boot.

It was the Reds captain's 450th career league appearance, netting his seventh penalty in the Premier League this season, only Steven Gerrard has scored more for Liverpool in a Premier League season (= 10 in 2013/14).

But non-other than Sergio Agüero levelled the score, making no mistake of beating wrong-sided defender Ragnar Klavan to Kevin De Bruyne's nice cross in from the right, smashing in the equaliser with just over 20 minutes to go.

The Argentine striker has scored in each and every of his five Premier League home games for City against Liverpool.

The game finished just as frantic as it started, a mad first half full of chances missed.

Both keepers were kept busy and made some strong saves, Simon Mignolet denying Leroy Sane, David Silva and Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho missing golden chances, whilst Willy Caballero kept out a surprisingly attacking Joel Matip, Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana at the other end.

Somehow it stayed goalless at the break, it was definitely the keepers' half.

Both De Bruyne and Agüero put chances wide late on, whilst Lallana missed the biggest sitter right in front of goal with just ten minutes to go.

But it was not to be for either side, the draw keeping City in third and Liverpool in fourth, giving Spurs some breathing apace in second, whilst United climb to fifth. Chelsea stay pretty comfy at the top.

The game was not perfect but great entertainment with a lot of pace, power, energy and chances. And it is a fair result after all the ifs and buts.

Liverpool have now recorded more points in ten games against the top six (20) than in ten games against the bottom six (19).

It was just as entertaining to watch both coaches in their technical areas, loud, active, very involved to say the least.

Both managers showed contrasting post-match reactions though, Reds boss Jürgen Klopp more disappointed with the result whilst Sky Blues' Pep Guardiola called it "one of the happiest days of his career".

The German won the previous five meetings between the two, including a penalty shootout, more than any other manager against the Spaniard, so, maybe that explains the different takes on the match.

Neither will like the international break disrupting their plans, Liverpool hosting Everton next whilst City will travel to Arsenal on April the 1st.

Man City Goal: Agüero 69'.

Liverpool Goal: Milner pen 51'.

Man City Team: 13 Caballero; 25 Fernandinho, 24 Stones, 30 Otamendi, 22 Clichy (booked 50'), 42 Yaya Toure (booked 22') (3 Sagna 65'), 19 Sane (6 Fernando 83'), 17 De Bruyne, 21 Silva (booked 52'), 7 Sterling, 10 Agüero. 4-1-4-1
Subs not used: 1 Bravo, 9 Nolito, 11 Kolarov, 72 Iheanacho, 75 A. Garcia.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 32 Matip (booked 43'), 17 Klavan, 7 Milner, 23 Can, 5 Wijnaldum, 20 Lallana, 19 Mané (booked 88'), 10 Coutinho (27 Origi 73'), 11 Firmino (booked 16') (21 Lucas 89').
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 18 Moreno, 66 Alexander-Arnold, 58 Woodburn, 6 Lovren.

HT & FT Match Stats: MCFC-LFC
Score: 0-0 & 1-1
Possession: 55%-45% & 60%-40%
Shots: 4-8 & 13-13
On target: 1-2 & 3-4
Corners: 5-5 & 9-8
Fouls: 8-3 & 14-7
Bookings: 1-2 & 3-3

Referee: Michael Oliver
Man of the match: David Silva
Ground: Etihad Stadium
Attendance: 54,449

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, facts and stats taken from the BBC match report and SFR live coverage.

Week 7: Premier League Action Summary

Sports - Football - Premier League - Action Summary - Week 7

The seventh week of action saw 10 games, 26 goals, 1 own goal, 12 in the first half, 14 in the second half, 0 in injury time; 196 attempts, 89 on target and 105 corners; 195 fouls, 36 bookings, 0 red cards, 1 penalty scored, 1 penalty missed.

Most scored: At the Etihad (4), by Manchester City (3), and at Anfield (4), by Liverpool (3). Top creators: Newcastle at the Cardiff City Stadium (15 shots, 10 on target).

Main offenders: At the Etihad (25 fouls, 9 bookings, 1 penalty), Manchester City (15 fouls, 5 bookings).

Click here to read more: The action summary of all ten matches of the seventh week of the Premier League 2013-14 season: http://thefootballgene.com/2013/10/premier-league-action-summary-match-week-7/

Stats & Facts Sources: BBC website & MOTD

Week 5: Premier League Action Summary

Sports - Football - Premier League - Action Summary - Week 5

The fifth week of action saw 10 games, 29 goals, 12 in the first half, 17 in the second half, 3 in injury time; 253 attempts, 83 on target and 119 corners; 202 fouls, 23 bookings, 1 red card, 1 penalty scored, 1 penalty saved.

Most scored: Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium with 4 goals.

Top creators: Tottenham at the Cardiff City Stadium with 21 attempts, 12 on target, 12 corners and 63.7% possession.

Main offenders: West Ham at Upton Park with 17 fouls, 2 yellow cards and 1 sending off.

Norwich 0-1 Aston Villa:

Aston Villa recorded their first clean sheet in 27 league games as they beat Norwich 0-1 at Carrow Road. An action-packed first half started off with the home side on top winning a penalty after just six minutes when Cieran Clark handled the ball. But Brad Guzan made a fine save diving to his left and denying Robert Snodgrass from the spot. The Canaries saw Andreas Weimann's shot for Villa come off he post before sub Libor Kozak who replaced injured Christian Benteke scored 90 seconds after coming on just before the half-hour mark. Having missed a one-on-one chance against Norwich keeper John Ruddy, the ball came back to Gabriel Agbonlahor who was unselfish enough to cut it back to Kozak who netted it gratefully. After an entertaining end-to-end encounter, Paul Lambert can thank Guzan for some fine saves and helping his side to victory against his former employers. Norwich have only lost two of their last 12 league games at Carrow Road - both against Aston Villa.

Liverpool 0-1 Southampton:

Liverpool were denied their best ever start to a Premier League season by a defiant Southampton after losing 0-1 at Anfield despite a heroic performance by Simon Mignolet. The Belgian goalkeeper made save after save including a breath-taking triple-save denying Steven Davis. Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren were also denied by the stopper before the latter held off Daniel Agger to head in the winner for Mauricio Pochettino's men. Saints keeper Artur Boruc denied Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge with some impressive saves of his own but all in all the home side struggled to create chances and break through a stubborn back line. This was the second home defeat of 2013 for Brendan Rodgers men, both against Southampton.

Newcastle 2-3 Hull City:

A Loic Remy double was not enough for Newcastle as they fell to a stunning Sone Aluko strike losing 2-3 against Hull City at St James Park. Remy had given the hosts the lead heading in Papiss Cisse's miscued shot. Robbie Brady equalised with a low volley before Remy netted his second off Yohan Cabaye's attempt. Ahmed Elmohamady glanced in Brady's free kick to make it 2-2 after the break before Aluko smacked in the winner from 18 yards. Alan Pardew's men came into the match on the back of two wins on the trot over Fulham and Aston Villa. After an entertaining encounter Steve Bruce was delighted with his side's display, the Tigers putting an end to the home side's run picking up seven points from their opening five games in their first season back in the Premier League after three years in the Championship.

West Brom 3-0 Sunderland:

West Brom condemned Sunderland to their fourth Premier League defeat of the season thrashing them 3-0 at the Hawthorns. Debutant Stephane Sessegnon scored against his former side netting an easy rebound after Keiren Westwood initially denied Scott Sinclair. Liam Ridgewell doubled the score with a one-touch bang of a shot before the Black Cats were forced to play the last 15 minutes reduced to 10 men after manager Paulo Di Canio had already made all three available substitutions and then lost Steven Fletcher to injury. Morgan Amalfitano completed the Italian's miserable afternoon and run by making it 3-0 with an angled shot in injury time and making it three defeats on the trot with just one point out of five games for the visitors. The traveling fans showed their frustration at the bottom club's manager when he went to applaud them which turned out to be a peculiar encounter in front of the cameras. The bigger the worry and despair got for Di Canio, the greater the relief and celebration was for Steve Clarke after his side finally recorded their first win to see them climb out of the relegation zone and up to 15th.

West Ham 2-3 Everton:

Everton produced a perfect turnaround as they twice came from behind to beat 10-man West Ham at Upton Park. Roberto Martinez's men thereby remain the last unbeaten side in the Premier League this season in sixth place on nine points out of five games. Ravel Morrison's deflected shot from the edge of the box got the scoreboard rolling and the hosts ahead before Leighton Baines levelled the score with a spectacular free kick bending and swerving the ball across and past a helpless Jussi Jaaskelainen. The Hammers restored their lead against the run of play thanks to Mark Noble's penalty conversion after skipper Kevin Nolan drew a foul from James McCarthy after a fine build-up in the box. But the game took a decisive twist when Noble was given a second booking for a tackle from behind on Toffee midfielder Ross Barkley. Baines struck again netting another stunning free-kick in the opposite corner. Substitute Romelu Lukaku completed the perfect turnaround heading in the winner for the visitors and condemning Sam Allardyce's men to their second defeat of the season and down to 14th.

Chelsea 2-0 Fulham:

Chelsea put their worst start to a league season in 10 years behind them after beating Fulham 2-0 at Stamford Bridge going top of the table for 24 hours at least. Jose Mourinho laughed off all fears and critics in the post-match interview after watching Oscar and John Mikel Obi score two second-half goals to settle the bout and bag three points for the Blues. After a less entertaining, more hard-working first half where Darren Bent's shot at home keeper Petr Cech was the closest either team got, Oscar settled Chelsea's nerves with a fine finish from close range. Mikel doubled the score with his first league goal in 185 games to end a four-game winless run for Roman Abramovich's men. The result took Chelsea above Liverpool at the top of the table before Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City leapfrogged them with their wins on Sunday (see summaries below).

Arsenal 3-1 Stoke City:

Arsenal recorded their seventh win on the trot after beating Stoke convincingly 3-1 at the Emirates to send them top of the table ahead of bitter London rivals Tottenham on goal difference. Aaron Ramsey opened the scoring after just five minutes netting his seventh goal in eight games for the Gunners by tapping in the rebound after Asmir Begovic had pushed Mesut Ozil's free kick straight at him. The Potters were level 20 minutes later after Geoff Cameron netted Marko Arnautovic's shot that came off the post. But Per Mertesacker put the home side back ahead and in command before the break heading in Ozil's corner with keeper Begovic all over the place again. Bacary Sagna made it three goals and three points for Arsene Wenger's men later on in the second half, heading in Ozil's free kick with a nice leap into the left corner leaving the keeper stranded yet again. Ozil had a hand in all three Arsenal goals on his home debut for the club, showing how pivotal the German has already become for the club, especially with the long injury list they still have.

Crystal Palace 0-2 Swansea:

Swansea bossed the game from start to finish brushing aside a poor Crystal Palace side 2-0 at Selhurst Park. Striker Miguel Michu fired the ball under Palace keeper Julian Speroni to open the scoring after just 80 seconds, producing a banging start for the Swans. Nathan Dyer doubled the home side's lead soon after the break hammering a rebound high into the net after some great work by Michu in the build-up again setting up Alvaro Vazquez whose shot was saved by Speroni. Michu had the ball in the back of the net again before the final whistle, connecting to Jonathan de Guzman's long through-ball, but the goal was disallowed for offside. It was almost like a training match for Michael Laudrup's men, dominating in possession, territory and chances, Ian Holloway admitting post-match how awful his side were.

Cardiff 0-1 Tottenham:

Welsh hearts were broken in stoppage time as Paulinho scored a stoppage-time winner for Tottenham in a tense encounter at the Cardiff City stadium. Malky Mackay's men were out to frustrate and stun Spurs as they did in their 3-2 home win against Manchester City with keeper David Marshall starring, producing one brilliant save after another. The London side dominated possession and produced plenty of chances keeping Marshall more than busy. But Cardiff's defence was finally breached in the dying seconds when Brazilian Paulinho connected onto Erik Lamela's cross with a cheeky back-heeler netting three crucial points for Andre Villas-Boas men putting them level on points with rivals Arsenal at the top of the table before their big derby clash against Chelsea next weekend.

Manchester City 4-1 Manchester United:

Manchester City thrashed bitter rivals Manchester United 4-1 in a gob-smacking derby at the Etihad Stadium. It was the first derby for both David Moyes and Manuel Pellegrini, the first time two new managers took over the derby since 1947. The energy levels were high from kick-off with end-to-end stuff before Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for the home side with a marvellous finish off a fine link between Samir Nasri and Aleksandar Kolerov. Yaya Toure doubled the lead just before the interval tapping in a deflected corner finding himself in plenty of space with the United defence totally zoned out. Whatever Moyes' team talk was at half time, it did not show much effect as seconds after the break, United were carved open again, Alvaro Negredo's clip-in finding Aguero free, completing the move with a simple left-footed finish to make it 3-0. And five minutes later City tore United apart again, Vincent Kompany running in on the right finding Nasri whose right-footed smacker made it 4-0. It was a wonderful carve-finish, from one end to the other and stunned United, leaving everyone wonder how much worse the thrash score line could get. In the end, it stayed four for City but Wayne Rooney did pull one back for United, curling a free kick into the top right corner past Joe Hart's glove, a superb jump beaten by a superb goal. It was merely a consolation goal though, as City recorded an emphatic win against the Red Devils, leaving Moyes wondering whether he can ever win a derby as he was unable to beat Liverpool in his 11 years as Everton boss.