Liverpool finally ended their 10-year winless run at the Etihad.
Mohamed Salah was the star of the show, scoring and assisting in the same match for an 11th time in the Premier League this season.
Dominik Szoboszlai also caught the eye as a false-nine for the Reds, assisting the opener with a clever flicked pass to Salah before scoring the second with an arrowed left-footed effort.
The Hungary skipper thought he’d grabbed another assist when he rolled the ball to Curtis Jones to tap into an empty goal but the Liverpool No8 was narrowly offside.
He also had the best chance to add to the scoreline, latching onto a threaded pass from Salah to rifle an effort goalwards. A block prevented him from a two-goal showing away at the Champions in what was a statement showing from the versatile attacker.
Virgil van Dijk looked back to his brilliant best too. City didn’t name Erling Haaland in their squad so his task was a little easier but he handled everything Pep Guardiola and his players had to offer with relative ease anyway.
However, the standout performer for the Reds was Alexis Mac Allister.
At a glance, there was nothing impressive about the numbers he posted against the reigning champions.
He had the least number of touches (33) of any outfield player to play 90 minutes. He attempted just 20 passes and had an 85% success rate. The World Cup winner created one chance, won one of his two tackles and two of his five duels.
In fact, if you looked at his stats and nothing else, you’d probably assume he had a disappointing game. Watch the match though and you’d realise he almost single-handedly nullified two of Manchester City’s best players in Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden.
Without Haaland in the XI, many expected Guardiola to name Omar Marmoush as a centre-forward. The Catalan coach tried to mix things up in order to dominate centrally.
He deployed Foden as a false-nine with Marmoush and De Bruyne playing either side of Nico Gonzalez.
At least on paper.
What happened in possession was Rico Lewis would push into midfield from right-back to form a double pivot alongside the former Porto man. Jeremy Doku would keep the width on the left and Savinho would do the same on the right.
This meant Marmoush and De Bruyne could float, with the former on the left and the latter on the right.
It was an attempt to drag Ryan Gravenberch and Mac Allister into wider areas, opening up Liverpool centrally so that Foden could drop off the centre-backs and into space.
Initially, everything went as Guardiola had planned.
Mac Allister would track the Belgian playmaker into wide areas on the Liverpool left and Foden would drop off between the lines.
Van Dijk was forced to track the England international and it left gaps in the defence that could’ve been exploited by better players.
City weren’t able to take advantage, but Arne Slot noticed it as a potential problem and looked to rectify it. He instructed Mac Allister to ignore De Bruyne whenever he shifted into wide areas and instead focus on blocking off the pass into Foden.
You can see it in the above image.
De Bruyne is just off screen having made a run forward in a bid to attract the former Brighton man. He’s ignored though with Van Dijk and Andrew Robertson keeping tabs on him. Mac Allister’s only focus here is Foden.
Had the Liverpool No10 tracked the Belgian, Ibrahima Konate would’ve had to push onto Marmoush or Van Dijk would’ve had to track Foden while Gravenberch minded the other City forward.
If De Bruyne didn’t take up a wide position, Mac Allister would man-mark him centrally. It was a role designed for an intelligent player and the £35million signing from Brighton epitomises that.
He knows when to be aggressive and when to dominate space. And his ability to read the game meant he was able to limit the involvement of these two Manchester City attackers, without really needing to impact possession.
So while Mac Allister didn’t post impressive numbers, he prevented Foden and De Bruyne from doing anything of any real note in the game.
The City No17 was replaced after 66 minutes. During his time on the pitch he created two chances and had two shots.
However, nothing he did had any real value. He had an expected goals (xG) haul of 0.04, highlighting the fact his chances weren’t dangerous, and his expected assists (xA) total was just 0.07, again highlighting how he’d failed to carve out high-value opportunities for teammates.
Foden struggled too. He played for the entire ninety minutes and had a total of three shots. His xG total was just 0.1. He failed to have a single effort from inside the Liverpool penalty area.
He did complete two of his three dribbles but didn’t create a single chance for the Citizens.
Mac Allister has big goals - he’s netted against Real Madrid and Everton this season - and he’s chipped in with some vital assists during his time as a Liverpool player, but this might’ve been his best performance for the Reds, even if he isn’t getting the plaudits he deserves.
He’s a key reason Slot’s side are sitting 11 points clear at the summit right now.
The Mac Allister masterclass at the Etihad should live long in the memory.
The irony in all of this, of course, is that he would’ve been the perfect replacement for Ilkay Gundogan during the summer of 2023.
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