3-2: Guardiola’s City kick the champions, Klopp’s Liverpool, out of the Carabao Cup

Manchester City-Liverpool showed again on Thursday that few football spectacles can surpass him. Or almost nothing. Returning to official competition for both teams after the World Cup won by Argentina, City reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cupthe English League Cup, after beating Liverpool, the reigning champions, 3-2 at the Etihad.

This is the third time Pep Guardiola’s team and Jürgen Klopp’s team have met this season and, after two defeats against the ‘reds’ (3-1 in the Community Shield and 1-0 in the Premier at Anfield), in the third chance. The city won.

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Both City and Liverpool started with a lot of young players because their World Cup players weren’t at their peak or hadn’t returned yet. The ‘citizens’ advanced thanks to a goal from Erling Haaland, one of the biggest stars who could not play in the World Cup, because his team, Norway, did not qualify for it. And it is noted that Haaland wants action.

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Haaland, who started the game with great intensity and warned Liverpool with a high shot, did not miss the second: in 10′, a pass from Kevin de Bruyne (who played in the World Cup, where he was removed with Belgium in the first leg), the Norwegian star produced an acrobatic shot to beat Caoimhin Kelleher, the starting goalkeeper for Klopp’s side on Thursday, as is often the case at this tournament. At City, De Bruyne is once again the best version of De Bruyne.

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City-Liverpool went fast, the ‘reds’ reacted and leveled the score after a choral play, which Fabio Carvalho finished off. Joel Matip served for James Milner and this Thursday the Liverpool captain made the ‘death pass’ to his teammate in the 20th minute. At 1-1, the giants of English football retired at halftime.

But City went all out in the second half and in the 47′ went ahead again against their great rivals, this time thanks to a goal from another non-World Cup player, the Algerian Riyad Mahrez, who was in control and to his left, after receiving the ball from a Rodri shone.

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And Liverpool reacted again, three minutes later, when Mohamed Salah scored after a good game and an assist from Darwin Núñez, the best thing the Uruguayan striker did against the ‘citizens’, was inaccurate with his shots and forgave every chance he had.

City wanted the quarterfinals and it was in the 58th minute when Nathan Aké headed in the goal that allowed Pep Guardiola’s men to knock their champions out of the Carabao Cup. As with Haaland’s goal, De Bruyne was the assistant to the goal of the Dutch defender.

Liverpool’s hopes of a comeback, of continuing their title defense, were reversed, but City defended their lead. Fabinho made a difficult tackle on Rodri, he turned and pushed him causing a fight between several players. The referee adopted a Solomonic solution and advised Fabinho and Rodri. The Brazilian midfielder stopped De Bruyne from scoring City’s fourth in the 83rd minute. Liverpool’s third never came either.