In a thrilling 3-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday, Manchester City eliminated League Cup holders Liverpool with a header from Nathan Ake.
The result was a thrilling thriller. Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City was the best player in a high-class field in their return to competitive action following the World Cup break in this last-16 match.
Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez gave Premier League champions City two leads, but goals from Fabio Carvalho and Mohamed Saleh quickly brought Liverpool level.
The visitors were unable to score a third goal after Ake made it 3-2 just before the hour mark.
“Both teams were incredible with high level and intensity after the World Cup and a long time of not playing,” City manager Pep Guardiola stated to Sky Sports.
“Liverpool is so difficult, they destroy you when they play well.”
“De Bruyne fire,” he continued, With a fire inside him, Kevin played. He had to look for it. What a performer. How long has he been coming to this location? How many years? He is a true legend.”
Jurgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool, lamented his team’s defense despite saying that City is a “super, super, super side who do things extremely well.”
“We played a good game, but we weren’t good enough to beat City tonight. The goals we gave up were completely unnecessary.”
“That’s what we’ll do”: “There’s a lot we can build on and take into the next games.”
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From the start, all of Ake, Manuel Akanji, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, and Ilkay Gundogan was involved.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool squad, which beat Chelsea 11-10 in a long penalty shootout at Wembley in February to win the League Cup for a record ninth time, was also strong.
Salah, who made his first League Cup appearance since October 2020 outside of finals, Darwin Nunez, and Carvalho were in the German forward line.
Early on, Cole Palmer and Haaland both missed opportunities to score, but the Norway star soon made up for it.
Haaland scored his 24th goal of the season in the 10th minute by turning in a near-post cross from De Bruyne after appearing to be given a free pass by Liverpool’s defense.
However, after James Milner was given too much space in the penalty area, Carvalho finished from a cross from the former City midfielder to bring Liverpool level 10 minutes later.
At halftime, the visitors made two substitutions, substituting Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Carvalho and Stefan Bajcetic, a rookie midfielder.
But before either of the two substitutes could get back into the game, Liverpool fell behind once more.
After receiving a cross from Rodri, 76 seconds into the second half, Mahrez scored from the right side of the penalty box.
However, just over a minute later, City lost their lead when Nunez sprinted past Laporte down the left and Salah made light of a poor center to tie Liverpool at 2-2.
After a fast-taken corner, Ake powered in a 58th-minute header from a superb, pinpoint cross by the outstanding De Bruyne to give City the lead for the third time in a rollercoaster match.
David Coote denied the Reds a penalty kick in the 69th minute after Oxlade-Chamberlain collided with Ake, but the referee’s decision was upheld because VAR was not used.
However, a superb pass from Naby Keita left the onside Nunez free down the right touchline, giving Liverpool the opportunity to make it 3-3.
Nunez, however, missed the far post with a shot from an acute angle after sprinting clear of the City defense.