Man City Rout Liverpool as Guardiola Marks 1,000th Game

Man City Rout Liverpool as Guardiola Marks 1,000th Game and Closes in on Arsenal

It was a magnificent day, and Pep Guardiola celebrated his 1,000th game as a manager in a brilliant way, with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, which has revived their title ambitions in the Premier League.

Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez, and Jeremy Doku's goals won the decisive victory that made City within striking distance of the league Arsenal.

This was a landmark event in the remembrance of Guardiola, who has since then led 716 victories over a lustrous 17 year career that features trophy-winning stints at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and City.

The outcome propelled City to the lead as the best competitors of Arsenal, with the gap between them narrowed to four points after the Gunners lost points in a 2-2 tie at Sunderland.

The seventh victory of City in their last eight games was at the cost of a weak Liverpool team that seems to be in shambles in defending its title. Reds are now seven out of their last 10 matches in all competitions and are at position 8 in the table, eight points behind Arsenal.

Haaland Rebounds on Early Miss. The control over the city had started at an early stage when City was given a penalty by VAR in the 12th minute following the tripping of Jeremy Doku by the Liverpool goalkeeper, Giorgi Mamardashvili. But Haaland made a wonderful effort on the spot, which was admirably stopped by the Georgian, who threw himself down on his left in front of the goal to draw a draw. Norwegian striker soon made amends in the 29th minute, converting a 20-pass sequence that had been dazzling in its source in the middle of the City half.

Matheus Nunes provided a perfect cross into the box, and Haaland scaled above Ibrahima Konate to score his 99th goal in the Premier League since he joined the club from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.

Haaland is now on 19 goals in 15 games this season, having not brought himself to score in any of them.

The consistency of his plays keeps the formidable attack of City in place. Liverpool believed they had drawn a level towards the end of the first half as Virgil van Dijk headed in a short-range goal, but the game was checked by the VAR, who said that Andrew Robertson was offside.

The decision infuriated Manager Arne Slot and turned out to be expensive in the near future.

City Take Control During the first half, at the break of half, Nico Gonzalez increased the lead of the City as his strong long-distance shot, hitting Van Dijk and misleading Mamardashvili, scored 2-0. The hosts were in control of the possession and passing tempo, and Liverpool was shadowed throughout the match.

The hope of a Liverpool revival was shattered in the 63rd minute of the game when Doku exemplified his superb performance with a perfect 25-yard curling shot, which found a place in the top corner. The deserving man of the match was the Belgian winger who made life miserable to the Liverpool defence in the whole game.

The outcome highlighted the revival and strategic accuracy of City with Guardiola, who marked his 1,000th match with a flourish.

The environment of his players, which included their dynamism, discipline, and creativity, was a signature of his managerial life.

Forest Boost Survival Hopes

In other parts of the world, Nottingham Forest gave a new life to their survival struggle by defeating Leeds United 3-1 at the City Ground.

Leeds had led early in the 13th minute courtesy of Lukas Nmecha but Ibrahim Sangare matched the goal almost instantly.

Foster carew Forest ahead in the 68th minute courtesy of Morgan Gibbs-White before Elliot Anderson scored against the stoppage-time penalty to win the match.

This was the first league win by Forest since the first weekend of the season and put an end to a nine-game winless streak.

The victory was the first win in the Premier League since his appointment, which left Forest one point above the relegation zone.

Villa and Brentford Record Big Wins. At Villa Park, Aston Villa decimated Bournemouth 4-0 to continue their good run. Goals were scored by Emiliano Buendia and Amadou Onana within the first half and Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen in the second half.

Emiliano Martinez also preserved the clean sheet by saving a penalty by Antoine Semenyo. Meanwhile, Newcastle United received another blow in their away matches, losing 3-1 to Brentford.

Harvey Barnes had already created an early advantage to the Magpies; however, Kevin Schade evened the score, and Dan Burn was even sent away in red and changed the game.

Newcastle was beaten by Igor Thiago, scoring twice, one on the penalty spot, which sent Newcastle to a ninth consecutive winless away game. London Crystal Palace and Brighton stalemated the draw without any goals at Selhurst Park, with both teams in the mid-table.

The outcome of the weekend results leaves Arsenal with a slender lead in the title race, but with Manchester City finding its form and Guardiola making another mark in his career, the struggle to be the best in the Premier League is not yet over.