The best Manchester City vs Liverpool showdowns in recent years

Manchester City Vs Liverpool games have been something to look forward to since quite a while now, with players like Sergio Aguero, Mohamed Salah, and Roberto Firmino participating in it. Whether it be the 2013/14 Premier League title race, or the final day finish in the 2021/22 season, this rivalry has it all. This list consists of some of the best Manchester City Vs Liverpool matches in recent times.

1. Liverpool 3-2 Manchester City (13^th April 2014)

This game between Liverpool and Manchester City took place in the Premier League on 13^th April 2014. Raheem Sterling scored in the 6^th minute and gave Liverpool the lead early in the game. Luis Suarez managed to fend off Manchester City players and played a beautiful ball through Manchester City’s defence. Suarez’s ball managed to get through and find Raheem Sterling. Sterling faked twice to fool both Kompany and Joe Hart. He managed to get away from both and slid the ball into the back of an essential open net. This gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead over Manchester City.

Steven Gerrard nearly doubled the lead for Liverpool. A whipped ball by Philippe Coutinho from a corner saw Steven Gerrard get on the end of it. He headed the ball strongly towards Manchester City’s goal. Joe Hart made an incredible save to keep the score 1-0. Joe Hart, however, was unable to keep the next corner out. This time it was Steven Gerrard who took the corner. Martin Skrtel made a run to the near post and headed the ball past Joe Hart to give Liverpool a two-goal lead in the 26^th minute.

Manchester City had to great chances to score just before half-time. In the 44^th minute, Samir Nasri whipped a corner in. Liverpool’s keeper Simon Mignolet made a mess of clearing it and Vincent Kompany managed to get his head on the ball. Raheem Sterling stopped the ball on the goal line before Glen Johnson made another goal line clearance to prevent Manchester City from scoring. In the injury time of the first half, Jesus Navas’ cross found Fernandinho inside Manchester City’s box. Fernandinho struck the ball well and his low driven shot was kept out by Mignolet with a spectacular save. The score remained at 2-0 going into half-time.

Manchester City started strong in the second half. A beautiful linkup between Fernandinho, James Milner, and David Silva saw Manchester City cut the deficit in half in the 57^th minute. Fernandinho played a one two with Milner before sliding the ball through Liverpool’s defence and sending Milner in behind. James Milner took a touch and squared the ball to David Silva who touched it into Liverpool’s net.

Liverpool conceded another goal almost instantly. In the 62^nd minute, Samir Nasri received the ball inside Liverpool’s penalty area. He played the ball wide to David Silva who tried crossing it in. Glen Johnson managed to get a block on the cross but this only deflected the ball towards the near post. Simon Mignolet was unable to stop the ball which meant the score was now level thanks to a Glen Johnson own goal.

In the 75^th minute Manchester City get their chance to complete the comeback. Sergio Kun Aguero manages to get past Liverpool’s defender. He runs in behind Liverpool’s defence but instead of shooting decides to pass to David Silva. The pass ends up being slightly ahead of Silva who stretches to try and reach and score but is unable to do so. Manchester City regret this miss almost instantly. In the 78^th minute, a miscued clearance by Vincent Kompany sees the ball go to Philippe Coutinho. He takes a first time shot and sends the ball hurling into the back of Manchester City’s goal past Joe Hart. This made the score 3-2 and gave Liverpool a spectacular win in a game filled with drama from the start till the finish, hence concluding one of the best Manchester City Vs Liverpool games in history.

2. Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool (3^rd January 2019)

The game transcended into pandemonium almost instantly. Liverpool got a fantastic goal scoring chance in the 17^th minute. Mohamed Salah played a beautiful ball through to send Sadio Mane through on goal. Mane took a low shot past Manchester City’s goalkeeper Ederson but his effort hit the post and stayed out. John Stones then tried to clear the ball but hit a retreating Ederson instead. This clearance almost set-up Mohamed Salah to score into an open net but John Stones was able to recover quickly and cleared the ball off the line to narrowly avoid going 1-0 down to Liverpool.

A poor pass by John Stones in the 31^st minute saw Salah almost get through on goal. Vincent Kompany made a lunging challenge to win the ball back but caught Salah instead. There was a case to be made foe a red card as Kompany’s challenge On Salah was reckless and Mohamed Salah would have been through on goal but the referee decided to settle for a yellow card instead.

In the 40^th minute, it was pressure after pressure by Manchester City on Liverpool’s goal. The move started with a long ball being played towards Leroy Sane who managed to get away from Dejan Lovren and get through on goal. Sane’s shot was saved by Alisson but went only as far as Raheem Sterling. Sterling tried to cross the ball in but his cross was blocked by Virgil Van Dijk. Fernandinho managed to recover the ball and played it to Aymeric Laporte.

Laporte’s cross was successfully dealt with by Van Dijk but not before Aguero asked for a penalty. The referee decided against giving a penalty and play went on. Bernardo Silva manged to get gold on the ball and went all the way to the by line before cutting the ball back into Liverpool’s penalty area. Aguero controlled the ball and swung his left foot at it to hit the ball past Alisson and give Liverpool a 1-0 lead in the 40^th minute.

Liverpool started the second half well and managed to get a breakthrough in the 64^th minute. Trent Alexander-Arnold crossed the ball with his left foot towards the back post. Andrew Robertson made a late run to the back post and managed to latch onto the cross. He lobbed the ball back towards the centre of Manchester City’s penalty area where Roberto Firmino was waiting to head the ball into an essentially empty goal to equalise the score.

In the 72^nd minute, a chance for Liverpool to take the lead turned out to end up giving Manchester City the lead. Leroy Sane lost the ball in the middle of the pitch. Wijnaldum tried to capitalise on this and played a quick through ball towards Mohamed Salah but he overshot his pass and Ederson was able to come out and stop Liverpool’s attack. Ederson’s pass fell to Danilo who played it to Raheem Sterling and started a counterattack. Sterling played the ball in the path of Leroy Sane who collected the ball and finished the counterattack beautifully, putting the ball past Alisson into the bottom right corner off the post. This gave Manchester City a 2-1 lead over Liverpool in the 72^nd minute.

Liverpool was on an all-out attack strategy in the 82^nd minute. The ball was bouncing in Manchester City’s penalty area as Liverpool players tried to get a shot off. Fernandinho, however, managed to clear. Raheem Sterling then managed to get the ball and started another counterattack. He ran the length of the pitch before playing a perfectly timed pass towards Sergio Aguero. Aguero tried to cut the keeper and score but Alisson reacted in time to keep the ball out of Liverpool’s net.

Mohamed Salah got one last chance in the 84^th minute of the game. A through ball sent inside Manchester City’s penalty area managed to find Mohamed Salah. Salah shot first time but his effort was tipped past the post by Ederson. This chance for Salah was Liverpool’s last real chance in the game and the final score was 2-1 in favour of Manchester City.

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3. Liverpool 4-3 Manchester City (14^th January 2018)

The 2018 Premier League game between Liverpool and Manchester City started off with a blast. In the 9^th minute, Roberto Firmino laid the ball for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin who took the ball past Fernandinho and took a courageous shot from outside the box. His long-range effort was rewarded as he saw the ball go past Ederson into the back of Manchester City’s net. This opened the scoring and gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead in just 9 minutes.

Manchester City almost found an equaliser in the 23^rd minute through Leroy Sane. Sane took a shot from outside the box. A deflection from Dejan Lovren left Loris Karius wrong footed as he watched the ball sail past on the other side of the post.

A solo effort by Leroy Sane in the 40^th minute saw Manchester City level the score. Sane received the ball on the left wing. He took a beautiful touch on his chest to take the ball past Joe Gomez. Sane then went in the box and cut past Joel Matip to create enough space to take a shot. He got off a shot and an exquisite finish to the right of Loris Karius saw Leroy Sane make the score 1-1 heading into half-time.

In the 51^st minute, Otamendi managed to get his head on the end of corner but his effort hit the crossbar and stayed out. This served as a warning for Liverpool and this was followed by Liverpool domination. Liverpool laid out attack after attack on Manchester City’s goal, showing utter dominance, and finally got their breakthrough in the 59^th minute. A through ball played in behind Manchester City’s defence saw Roberto Firmino get through on goal. Firmino bodied John Stones out of the way before chipping the ball over Ederson towards the far post to help Liverpool retake the lead in the game.

Manchester City almost conceded immediately after. A mistake from Fernandinho saw Sadio Mane latch onto the ball. He took a shot from outside the box but his curling effort hit the post and stayed out. Manchester City, however, did not learn from the mistake. A few seconds later Salah found himself with the ball near Manchester City’s penalty area. He laid the ball off to Sadio Mane. Sadio mane took a shot from just inside the penalty area and this time he did not miss. Sadio Mane’s left footed effort perfectly nestled into the top left corner to give Liverpool a 3-1 lead in the 61^st minute.

In the 68^th minute, Manchester City made yet another defensive mistake. They seemed to be crumbling at the back. Manchester City’s keeper Ederson came out to make a clearance but he miscued his clearance and it went only as far as Mohamed Salah. Salah controlled the ball and shot instantly as Ederson was not in his goal. His chipped effort flew past Ederson into an empty net and gave Liverpool a 4-1 lead. The game seemed to be finished at this point.

Manchester City, however, still had some fight left in them. In the 84^th minute, Aguero and Gundogan linked up just outside of Liverpool’s box. Gundogan managed to get free inside Liverpool’s penalty area and took a shot. His shot was blocked off by Joe Gomez but it went only as far as David Silva. David Silva took a first time shot into the bottom right corner to pull one back for Manchester City.

In the 91^st minute, it was Liverpool’s chance to start panicking. Aguero crossed a ball in from the left wing. The floated ball was not dealt with by Liverpool at all. Gundogan had enough time to control the ball with his chest and the poke the ball into the bottom right corner to make the score 4-3 with 3 minutes of injury time left to play.

Liverpool, however, held their nerves. They had a few close calls but managed to play out the rest of the time without conceding a goal. The game finished 4-3 in favour of Liverpool. This has to be one of the most exhilarating Manchester City Vs Liverpool games ever played.

4. Manchester City 5-0 Liverpool (9^th September 2017)

This is one of the most humiliating defeats for Liverpool against Manchester City. Manchester City started the game strong right from the off. In the 13^th minute, a shot by Fernandinho forced a smart save out of Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet. In the 24^th minute, Manchester City finally broke down Liverpool’s resistance. Kevin de Bruyne played a fantastic ball through Liverpool’s defence to see Sergio Aguero through on goal. The Argentine forward kept his head and calmly took the ball past Simon Mignolet and put the ball in the back of Liverpool’s net. This opened the scoring and gave Manchester City a 1-0 lead in the 24^th minute.

In the 31^st minute, Liverpool got a fantastic chance to equalise. Sadio Mane played a ball to Mohamed Salah, sending him through on goal. Salah was one on one with the keeper and tried to finish in the bottom left corner. However, Manchester City keeper Ederson read this and made a smart save to keep Manchester City’s lead intact. Manchester City nearly doubled their lead a few minutes later. A corner in the 34^th minute fell to John Stones. Stones managed to get a shot away but Mignolet made a save with his leg to keep Liverpool in the game.

The most defining moment of this game came in the 37^th minute. Sadio Mane was chasing an over-the-top ball to try and score. Ederson decided to come and clear the ball before Mane could reach it. It looked like Ederson was going to reach and clear the ball, so in a last-ditch effort to reach the ball, Mane decided to go for the ball with his feet. Mane raised his studs up all the way till Ederson’s face and caught him square in his face. This was an extremely reckless and dangerous challenge and Sadio Mane was instantly sent off. After a lengthy medical check, Ederson had to be stretchered off and Claudio Bravo came in to replace him.

Liverpool was unable to cope with this red card and seemed to crumble almost instantly. In the 45+3 minute, Gabriel Jesus managed to get on the end of a cross and score but the goal was deemed offside. Jesus however had to halt his celebrations only momentarily. A few minutes later Kevin de Bruyne’s cross managed to find Gabriel Jesus and this time the goal stood. Liverpool was trailing 2-0 with a man down at half-time.

In the 53rd minute, Sergio Aguero was played through on goal. He was one on one against Mignolet but he decided to unselfishly pass the pass to Gabriel Jesus who was next to him. This presented an essentially open goal for Jesus to shoot at and he took this opportunity to extend the score to 3-0. Liverpool was kept under relentless pressure by City. Joel Matip nearly scored an own goal in the 72^nd minute. It looked like Liverpool were barely able to hold on and were waiting for the final whistle to come.

In the 77^th minute, Leroy Sane found himself with the ball at the edge of Liverpool’s box. He decided to play a quick one two with Benjamin Mendy who was making an overlapping run. He got the ball back in a very good position and scored to make it 4-0 to Manchester City. Sane almost got an assist in the 87^th minute when he squared the ball back in Agueros path. Aguero stretched and reached the ball and managed to get a shot off but Mignolet came to the rescue again with another save.

Leroy Sane completed Liverpool’s humiliation in the 91^st minute. He curled the ball in from outside the box to the top left corner. The ball beat Mignolet and went in to make the score 5-0 to Manchester City. Till today this is one of Liverpool’s biggest humiliations ever.

5. Manchester City 1-4 Liverpool (21^st November 2015)

Liverpool faced Manchester City in the Premier League at Etihad Stadium on 21^st November 2015. Manchester City started on the front foot, taking the game to Liverpool, but it was Liverpool who got the first breakthrough. In the 7^th Minute, Roberto Firmino managed to get to a ball inside Manchester City’s box. He cut the ball back to try and find Philippe Coutinho. The pass to Philippe Coutinho was intercepted by Eliaquim Mangala but not very effectively. Mangala’s deflection beat Joe Hart at the near post. It was Mangala’s own goal that opened the scoring for Liverpool and gave them a 1-0 lead.

Liverpool looked to be in complete control of the game after going ahead. In the 23^rd minute, Roberto Firmino chased down a ball and started an attack. He saw Philippe Coutinho make a run at the back post. Firmino slid the ball across the goal towards the back post. The pass managed to find Philippe Coutinho who shot first time. Coutinho’s shot went through Joe Hart’s legs and doubled Liverpool’s lead.

In the 32^nd minute it was Liverpool’s chance to score again and try to put the game to rest by half-time. Philippe Coutinho arrived from the left side of the goal. He found himself in acres of space. Joe Hart decided to rush Coutinho who had Firmino standing next to him. Philippe Coutinho decided to return the favour to his Brazilian teammate Firmino and passed the ball to Firmino as Joe Hart rushed him.

Roberto Firmino tapped the ball into an empty net to make the score 3-0 to Liverpool thanks to an assist from Coutinho. The Reds almost scored again just a few minutes later. In the 35^th minute Roberto Firmino got through on goal but Joe Hart made a good save to keep the score 3-0. Firmino narrowly missed the goal again a couple of minutes later. Liverpool seemed to be all over Manchester City. City players just wanted half-time to come as soon as possible.

Sergio Aguero, however, gave Manchester City newfound hope just before half-time. In the 44^th minute, Aguero managed to get past Lucas Leiva and create a shooting opportunity for himself. He was still some way out but Aguero decided to go for goal. His powerful shot nestled perfectly into the bottom right corner. There was nothing Liverpool’s keeper Simon Mignolet could do to stop it. This goal brought Manchester City right back in the game just before half-time.

Manchester City came out in the second half hopeful to score more goals but were found it too difficult to break down Liverpool’s defence. In fact, it was Liverpool who managed to get the next big chance of the game. Firmino managed to get into a very good position in Manchester City’s box. All he had to do was walk onto the ball and finish. Firmino managed to get the shot away but Joe Hart made yet another spectacular save to keep Manchester City in the game.

Manchester City finally managed to create a good chance. Aguero got into a position to score and make the score 3-2 but a spectacular save from Simon Mignolet saw Aguero get denied in the 66^th minute. Joe hart saved Mancher City yet again in the 81^st minute by saving a shit by Christian Benteke.

However, Manchester City’s hopes of any kind of comeback were dashed just a minute later. Martin Skrtel managed to control and the ball and took a first-time half volley to score a spectacular goal in the 82^nd minute. This made the score 4-1 to Liverpool and ended any hopes that Manchester City had of completing a comeback. The first half efforts of Firmino and Coutinho were enough to help them hold onto the win despite condeding. The game ended 4-1 to Liverpool, giving the Reds one of their best wins in a Manchester City vs Liverpool game.