Liverpool vs Man City: Last season’s Premier League title combatants kicked off the 2022-23 domestic season on Saturday, with Liverpool topping Manchester City 3-1 to claim the Community Shield at the King Power Stadium.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold opened the scoring in the 21st minute, capping an early period of Liverpool control before Manchester City began their rabid pursuit of an equalizer. With all eyes on Erling Haaland for 90 minutes, it was Man City’s other summer arrival at striker, Julian Alvarez, who scored his first (semi-)competitive goal for the club in the 70th minute.
13 minutes later, Mohamed Salah stepped to the penalty spot after Ruben Dias was charged (upon video review) with a handball offense inside his own penalty area. Darwin Núñez, Liverpool’s prize recruit from the summer, nodded home Liverpool’s third in stoppage time.
Gauntlet thrown down.
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Liverpool vs Man City final score, stats, results
Final score: Liverpool 3, Man City 1
Goal scorers: Liverpool (Alexander-Arnold 21′, Salah 83′ – PK, Nuñez 90′+3), Man City (Alvarez 70′)
Shots: Liverpool 15, Man City 14
Shots on target: Liverpool 4, Man City 8
Possession: Liverpool 43%, Man City 57%
What we learned – Liverpool vs Man City
1. These are title contenders once again (duh): Two of the last three Premier League seasons, it’s been a case of “Manchester City and Liverpool, and everyone else.” Last season, Man City won the title with Liverpool a single point behind in 2nd, with 3rd-place Chelsea finishing 18 points behind the runners-up Reds. This summer, Man City signed a generational talent in 22-year-old striker Haaland ($80 million), and Liverpool opted for one of Europe’s most prolific goal scorers a season ago in Darwin Nuñez ($84 million, plus $21 million in potential add- ons). The rich get richer, as they say. A brilliant rivalry gets better.
2. Adjustment period for new signings under Pep: If there was any negative to Manchester City’s successful Premier League title defense a season ago (aside from not winning the UEFA Champions League, of course), it was that Jack Grealish, who joined for $140 million a summer ago, had just three goals and three assists during the league campaign. Given the cost and return, it’s fair to say Grealish was a disappointment in year one, but that was somewhat expected given the intricacies of Guardiola’s tactical demands of a player around whom everything revolved at Aston Villa. Grealish finished the season much better than he started and has looked much more comfortable this season, making him an obvious candidate for a strong bounce-back, while also serving as a reminder that expectations should be eased in season no. 1 for Haaland. The big Norwegian will have to adjust quickly, just as Guardiola will (likely) have to give a bit from his end as well. His painful miss in the 97th minute will only ramp up criticism of his (unofficial) debut.
Liverpool vs Man City highlights
Trent Alexander-Arnold whips the ball into the box, and in (goal video)
Julian Alvarez scores in a goal-mouth scramble to make it 1-1 (goal video)
[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]
Mohamed Salah converts penalty kick to give Liverpool lead again (goal video)
Darwin Núñez puts the game to bed with first Liverpool goal (goal video)
Liverpool vs Man City: Reds throw down gauntlet in Community Shield triumph originally appeared on NBCSports.com