Online Reporter
MANCHESTER CITY got the better of old rivals Liverpool with a dominant 3-0 win at the Etihad on Sunday to put them firmly back in the title race.
Erling Haaland broke the deadlock in the 29th minute – shortly after missing a penalty.
Nico Gonzalez made it two on the brink of half-time before Jeremy Doku sealed the victory with a stunning strike.
City were the better team throughout – and it was all thanks to Pep Guardiola and his decision to go back to the “basics” at times.
On our hit YouTube show Tactics Exposed, in association with Betfair, our in-house tactics man Dean Scoggins reveals why some key moves from the Spaniard made all the difference.
WHAT’S UP, DOK
Guardiola has used Doku slightly differently this season.
Against Liverpool on Sunday, Doku was roaming more and coming inside from the touchline.
He had plenty of joy picking up the ball from inside, giving a conundrum to Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch in the centre of midfield.
When the winger then scored his goal, he received the ball from Nico O’Reilly – who had taken his space out wide on the left – before firing his shot into the top-right corner.
Man City were also helped by the lack of defensive contribution from Mohamed Salah on that side, who did not cover the space, which left Conor Bradley to deal with both Doku and O’Reilly.
BERN, BABY, BERN
City, who are now just four points behind Liverpool, played in a 4-3-2-1 out of possession, which meant that Bernardo Silva was the flexible player.
They also played in the shape of a spider’s web with Haaland in the epicentre.
Whenever the striker was involved, three Liverpool players would surround him, which then led to at least four more City players coming in.
Those players would then “spring the web” from there by playing out wide and exploiting the space.
HAAL TO PLAY FOR
Haaland now effectively walks players out of position.
When the ball goes out wide, he walks into the penalty area, which drags defenders with him.
That leaves plenty of space around the edge of the box, giving a City player a great opportunity to shoot.
His movement allowed Gonzalez to score the second goal of the afternoon on the brink of half-time.
City are now working out more ways to play off Haaland – which is a huge threat to fellow Premier League title challengers.
LIFE O’REILLY
Guardiola is capitalising on the inverted full-back trend whereby the wide defenders drift into the centre of the pitch. Now, O’Reilly simply plays down the lines out wide – as does Matheus Nunes on the right.
It gives both players plenty of space to move up the pitch and cause a threat.
THE DON
Gianluigi Donnarumma is just keeping it simple. He is not Ederson, he is not trying to be Ederson. Donnarumma is a goalkeeper that will make match-winning saves.
The rest of the time, there are ten other players to focus on the outfield football, so he is not focused too much on playing out from the back.
If the opposition press, he can send a long ball over the top to Haaland. If they don’t, he can just play it simple and short to Josko Gvardiol or Ruben Dias in defence. – Sun
