MANCHESTER, England, November 9, 2025 – Pep Guardiola celebrated his 1,000th match as a manager in style as Manchester City cruised to victory against Liverpool at Etihad Stadium.
The meeting of two sides hoping to catch Premier League pace-setters Arsenal turned into a one-sided affair as City dominated to trim the Gunners’ lead to four points.
City halted Liverpool’s recent mini-revival in its tracks, with Erling Haaland almost inevitably setting them on their way as he continued his remarkable scoring form with his 28th goal for club and country this season.
Haaland had uncharacteristically wasted an earlier opportunity to give City the lead when his penalty was saved by Liverpool keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who had been penalised for upending Jeremy Doku.
The Norwegian striker made amends after 29 minutes with a soaring header into the right corner from Matheus Nunes’ cross, capping a magnificent passing move.
It was Haaland’s first goal against Liverpool in a match in which Virgil van Dijk has started.
Liverpool thought they had equalised before half-time when captain Van Dijk rose to head home Mohamed Salah’s corner, but their celebrations were curtailed as the goal was ruled out for offside, Andy Robertson ducking in front of City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to allow the ball to go in.
City added insult to Liverpool’s injury in first-half stoppage time when Nico Gonzalez’s 20-yard shot deflected in off Van Dijk, with Mamardashvili wrong-footed.
Doku tormented the Liverpool defence, Conor Bradley in particular, and the Belgian winger produced a moment of individual brilliance to extend City’s lead soon after the hour, curling a superb right-foot curling effort beyond Mamardashvili from 20 yards.
Manchester City analysis: Brilliant Doku tears Liverpool apart
Doku has been accused, often justifiably, of showing frustrating inconsistency since joining Manchester City in a £55.4m deal from Rennes in August 2023.
The 23-year-old has put all that aside this season to become one of the major catalysts in Guardiola’s restructured side, as he proved with an outstanding performance that made life a misery for Liverpool’s defence.
Doku gave Conor Bradley, outstanding when Liverpool beat Real Madrid in the Champions League, a torrid time. The Reds right-back was outpaced and turned inside out by sheer speed and power.
It was Doku who set the tone for a City display that was a real statement of intent, not only overcoming the side who have been their main rivals for so long, but also firing a warning to Arsenal that they are now breathing down their necks.
Haaland, as always, was the spearhead, but he was aided and abetted by the promptings of Doku, the revitalised Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva.
Liverpool, champions last season, had their moments in the second half, but City never lost control.
Whenever the hosts were threatened, the giant figure of goalkeeper Donnarumma demonstrated that Guardiola has invested in world-class quality. This was never more notable than when the Italian made a flying save from Dominik Szoboszlai.
Guardiola and City travelled through stormy waters last season, but the creation, composure and sheer threat contained in this emphatic dismissal of Liverpool was a clear message that normal service is close to being resumed.
