FA Community Shield: Liverpool 3-1 Manchester City: 3 factors which stood out in the match
Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-1 on Saturday to win the FA Community Shield after 16 years. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez scored for Liverpool in the 21st, 83rd and 94th minutes, respectively.
On the other hand, Julian Alvarez scored the only goal for Manchester City in the 70th minute. The Reds have now won two of their last three matches against Manchester City.
WELL IN, REDS 🙌🔴
2022 #CommunityShield winners 😁 https://t.co/NKQkfSRZva
On that note, we will take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:
#1 Liverpool started the game brightly by putting pressure on Manchester City through the right and also getting a goal
Liverpool started the game in a resounding manner, with Salah being particularly active across the right flank. Salah's probing runs put Liverpool's defense under continuous pressure as the Egyptian forward also managed to hit the side-net once.
Joao Cancelo started as the left-back for Manchester City despite being a bit more comfortable playing as right-back and was given a torrid time by Salah.
Manchester City's plight worsened when Liverpool started playing crosses into their box and Andrew Robertson hit the side-net with his header from an Alexander-Arnold cross.
The Liverpool forwards pressed high, but the Reds lacked width through the left as Luis Diaz, the left-winger, frequently shifted inside and Roberto Firmino failed to swap positions with him.
However, the Reds were not to be denied for long as Alexander-Arnold stopped being the provider for once and scored a goal himself with a perfectly placed right-footed shot from the edge of the penalty box.
Nathan Ake tried to head the ball away, but could only manage to get a faint touch on it.
#2 Manchester City clawed back into the match but missed a number of chances
Manchester City, who were surprisingly subdued for the initial 20 minutes or so, slowly came back into the match by starting to dominate possession in their customary style.
They also played quite a few long balls to their forwards and both Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez saw their shots being blocked by Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian.
De Bruyne also managed to hit the side-net once and Mahrez, who was probably the best player for the Cityzens in the first half, kept testing Robertson frequently with his runs.
Cancelo, who was in defensive mode until City conceded the goal, started going into overlaps more often after the half-hour mark and as a result, City started looking like a different side.
Erling Haaland, City's new signing, had a forgettable first half hour as he kept looking for crosses from the flanks and hardly contributed with his link-up play.
However, as the crosses started to come, Haaland also got a whiff of goal, and could have scored one had he been able to keep Bernardo Silva's cross under control.
Nevertheless, the first half ended on a promising note for Manchester City, as they were able to get over Liverpool's dominance during the initial period and start looking like the better side.
#3 Substitutes and VAR had a big impact on second half as the Reds emerged winners
Liverpool once again started the second half in a resounding manner, with Salah again proving to be quite a handful for the City defense. Luis Diaz kept sticking to the left flank in the second half to provide the necessary width, but the quality of crosses were not up to the mark.
However, Manchester City found their way back into the match once more by keeping the ball longer and allowing De Bruyne to make runs with it.
Pep Guardiola introduced Phil Foden and Alvarez in place of Jack Grealish and Mahrez, respectively. Mahrez's substitution came as a surprise as he had a good first half.
On the other hand, Jurgen Klopp took off Firmino to introduce Nunez, Liverpool's new signing.
The Uruguayan striker impressed with his pace, intent and opportunism from the get-go and had almost scored on a couple of occasions after receiving through balls. Ederson came forward in time to deny him on both occasions.
City then got the equalizer as Foden's volley from a De Bruyne cross was blocked by Adrian, but the ball ricocheted to Alvarez, who scored his first goal for the club.
The goal was disallowed at first but VAR intervened to overrule the decision. However, the Reds kept troubling City with their fast counter-attacks and their second goal also came through one of them.
Salah yet again ran through the right flank to deliver a cross to Nunez, whose header hit Ruben Dias' hand. VAR decided that it was a penalty and Salah scored from it to put the Reds ahead.
Nunez then scored his first goal for the Reds as Robertson headed the ball to the former from yet another Salah cross. The Uruguayan dived to head the ball in and secure the win for his side.
Haaland then hit the crossbar from close distance in the dying minutes of the match to mark a disappointing day for himself as well as for his club.
Plenty of smiles after our #CommunityShield success! https://t.co/BoOgUrazRx