City Too Slick For Reds
Manchester City put their title credentials on show as they dominated Liverpool in a comfortable 3-0 win at Eastlands on Monday night.
City survived a bright Liverpool start and took the lead against the run of play as Gareth Barry finished off James Milner’s cross on 12 minutes.
The hosts doubled their advantage in the second half as Micah Richards nodded in Milner’s corner, with Carlos Tevez trying to claim the last touch.
Tevez didn’t have long to wait to officially have his name on the scoresheet, though, as he converted a 68th minute penalty to seal an impressive victory for Roberto Mancini’s men.
Reds boss Roy Hodgson opted to start David Ngog and Fernando Torres up front together, the first time in the Premier League but the Spaniard looked well short of match fitness early on.
Martin Skrtel made his presence felt in only the fourth minute with a cynical foul on Adam Johnson, who had beaten the Slovakian for pace on the wing, and went into the book for his trouble.
Adam Johnson fired an early warning to the Reds as he lashed a 30 yard left foot strike inches wide of Pepe Reina’s right post, narrowing missing out on handing City a 9th minute lead.
City were rewarded for their pressure in the 13th minute, though, and debutant James Milner was instrumental as he fended off a challenge from Steven Gerrard and teed up Barry, who calmly slotted home the pull-back.
Tevez almost made it two in two minutes as he shrugged off Jamie Carragher and drilled a powerful shot towards goal, finding the side netting from a difficult angle.
By the half-hour mark, City had dominated possession with 60% of the play as the Merseysiders looked rattled by the big spending Mancunians.
Liverpool began to come into the play more as the half wore on, but a distinct lack of match practice was evident as Torres, Dirk Kuyt and Glenn Johnson were all guilty of poor touches on numerous occasions.
Torres, though, presented Gerrard with a chance to equalised on the stroke of half-time as he spotted the captain’s run and picked him out with a delightfully weighted past.
Approaching the pass at high speed, the England international failed to connect as he knows he can, slicing his shot well wide of Joe Hart’s goal.
Second half
Liverpool came out after the break with greater urgency and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening stages of the restart.
However, City soon found themselves two goals to the good against the run of play as Micah Richards rose highest from a Milner corner and directed his header downwards and into the net, beating Reina who appeared to be obstructed by the eager Tevez.
The Reds responded well and were almost back in the game as first Ngog forced Hart into a save before Torres saw his point-blank range rebound brilliantly closed down by the England goalkeeper.
Goalscorer Richards picked up a yellow card soon after, as his persistent fouling on Torres was too much for referee Phil Dowd to let slide.
With 67 minutes on the clock, City had a third. Tevez netted the goal from the penalty spot after Skrtel had brought down Adam Johnson in the area. The Slovakian was lucky to escape a second booking.
Torres finally showed a touch of class on 72 minutes as he turned Richards inside the box and unleashed a left foot drive across the face of goal, narrowly evading the far post with Hart beaten.
The goal meant City had scored three goals against Liverpool in a league fixture for the first time since 1981 and was the first time the Reds had conceded three in a Premier League match in 29 games.
The game began to peter out thereafter, with City opting to keep possession with little urgency as Liverpool desperately tried in vein to retrieve the ball.
City held out with ease to signal their very real intentions of competing in this league. Liverpool, meanwhile, have a lot of work to do if they’re to keep with their rivals.






