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Nov 9, 2025 4.30pm
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Man City 3-0 Liverpool: Highlights, man of the match, stats as Jeremy Doku dazzles in Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th game

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Pep’s party at 1,000! Doku dazzles as Man City sink sorry Liverpool to send Arsenal PL title message
© Imago / News Images

Pep Guardiola has marked his 1,000th game as a manager by steering his Manchester City side to a dominant 3-0 victory over reigning Premier League champions Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Remembrance Sunday.

On a drizzly Manchester afternoon in front of a fired-up Etihad crowd, the Citizens began on the front foot and were presented with a glorious opportunity to open the scoring early doors when Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was deemed to have fouled livewire Jeremy Doku inside the penalty area following a VAR review.

However, Mamardashvili - starting his fifth Premier League game in the absence of first-choice shot-stopper Allison Becker - made amends as he guessed the right way to superbly keep out Erling Haaland’s powerful spot kick aimed towards the bottom corner.

Haaland was not troubled whatsoever by his penalty miss, though, and needed just 16 minutes to respond by heading home Man City’s opener into the far corner, aided by a slight deflection off the head of Ibrahima Konate.

Virgil van Dijk thought he had restored parity for Liverpool, but his header from a corner was disallowed for offside. Salt was then rubbed into the Dutchman’s wounds as it was his minor touch that helped Nico Gonzalez’s long-range strike deceive Mamardashvili as it flew into the bottom corner.

Man City were deserving of their two-goal half-time lead and picked up from where they left off after the interval, with Doku dazzling down the left and scoring a wonderful third for the hosts just after the hour mark to put the game to bed and strengthen Guardiola’s title hopes.

Victory for Man City - Guardiola's 716th as a manager in his legendary 18-year career - has seen then climb above Chelsea into second place in the table and has moved them to within four points of leaders Arsenal, who were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday.

As for Arne Slot's Liverpool, a fifth defeat in six league matches leaves them down in eighth place and eight points behind the Gunners at the summit after 11 matches.

SPORTS MOLE'S VERDICT

© Imago

Oliver Thomas live from the Etihad Stadium

A short and sweet summary: Man City turned up and Liverpool didn’t.

Pep Guardiola thanked 'the universe' for setting up a mouth-watering clash with Liverpool, 'the biggest rival in this country', in his monumental milestone match, and he will be thanking the universe again for watching his dominant Man City outfit outperform a below-par Liverpool side in every department.

This victory for Man City has not only sent out a statement to Liverpool to show them exactly where the Citizens are at, but is has also sent out a statement to leaders Arsenal that Guardiola’s improving crop - and not the disjointed champions - are their biggest challengers for this season’s title, albeit at an early stage in the campaign.

Erling Haaland scored his customary goal, and could have reached the 100 mark in the Premier League had he not had his first-half penalty saved, but for a change, the Norwegian was not the star of the show at the Etihad - Jeremy Doku please step forward!

The Belgian has shown glimpses of his talent throughout this season, but this performance in such a big game - his 100th appearance for Man City - must rank as one of his finest in sky blue. He tormented the Reds throughout with his elite dribbling ability and trickery. For the Etihad faithful, it was a joy to behold.

While Man City can take plenty of positives from their performance, Liverpool were collectively poor and are clearly struggling to play at the desired level, which is a major concern for Arne Slot, who will now have some pressure mounting on his shoulders following a fifth league loss in six games.

MAN CITY VS. LIVERPOOL HIGHLIGHTS

13th min: Erling Haaland penalty saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili (Man City 0-0 Liverpool) 

Huge moment! Huge save from Mamardashvili!

Jeremy Doku bursts into the penalty box and Mamardashvili is deemed to have made contact with the Belgian’s heel, with referee Chris Kavanagh awarding Man City an early penalty following a VAR review. 

Haaland confidently steps up, but Mamardashvili guessed the right way to keep out the Norwegian’s low effort towards the bottom corner.

Erling Haaland goal vs. Liverpool (29th min, Man City 1-0 Liverpool)

Haaland does not miss this time!

The Norwegian rises highest to meet a brilliantly whipped cross from Nunes on the right flank and gives Man City the lead with his 99th Premier League goal.

Haaland did not know too much about the header, which appears to take a slight deflection of Ibrahima Konate’s head, but the ball travels back in the direction it came from and drops beneath the crossbar into the far corner.

38th min: Virgil van Dijk goal disallowed for offside (Man City 1-0 Liverpool) 

Let off for Man City!

Virgil van Dijk powers home a superb header from a corner, but Liverpool’s celebrations are cut short as the linesman puts his flag up for offside.

VAR confirms that Andrew Robertson, standing in front of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, is standing in an offside position and is deemed to be interfering with play before the ball flies into the far corner.

Nico Gonzalez goal vs. Liverpool (45 + 3 min, Man City 2-0 Liverpool)

Nico Gonzalez doubles Man City’s lead!

The Citizens go short from the corner and it eventually works it way to Gonzalez on the edge of the penalty area. Liverpool are not aggressive enough to close down the Spaniard, who fires the hosts further in front at a crucial moment on the stroke of half time, with his long-range effort taking a slight deflection off Van Dijk’s heel before flying past Mamardashvili.

Jeremy Doky goal vs. Liverpool (63rd min, Man City 3-0 Liverpool)

Wow! Simply sensational from Doku!

Reminiscent of his Belgian international colleague and Man City legend Kevin De Bruyne, Doku receives the ball from Nico O'Reilly on the left and dances past Conor Bradley before curing a wonderful strike into the top corner, beating Mamardashvili all ends up!

MAN OF THE MATCH - JEREMY DOKU

© Imago / Sportimage

Not Haaland this time!

Many spoke about the creativity of both Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki before kickoff, but Jeremy Doku was certainly Man City's chief creator against Liverpool and posed a constant threat to their backline, down the left flank and when drifting into central positions.

The winger's second-half strike was stunning, while he has become the first player to score, win more than 10 duels, complete at least seven dribbles, create at least three chances, and have at least three shots on target in a single Premier League game since his Belgian compatriot Eden Hazard for Chelsea in 2019.

MAN CITY VS. LIVERPOOL MATCH STATS

Possession: Man City 50%-50% Liverpool

Shots: Man City 17-7 Liverpool

Shots on target: Man City 6-1 Liverpool

Corners: Man City 7-7 Liverpool

Fouls: Man City 14-14 Liverpool

BEST STATS

WHAT NEXT?

Man City and Liverpool will soon have players representing their countries over the international break, but both teams will return to Premier League action on November 22, with the Citizens travelling to St James’ Park to face Newcastle United and the Reds welcoming Nottingham Forest to Anfield.

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