Pep Guardiola thanked Jeremy Doku and his Manchester City players for delivering an “incredible present” on his 1,000th match as a manager. City produced a dominant display to beat champions Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium and as a result, moved within four points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.<\/p>
Pep Guardiola was managing his 550th game for City and the the Catalan coach watched his side dismantle their rivals with composure and flair. City were led by Belgian attacker Doku’s electrifying performance on the wing. Despite Erling Haaland’s early penalty miss, the Norwegian opened the scoring minutes later with a precise header from Matheus Nunes’ cross. <\/p>
Liverpool briefly thought they had found a lifeline before halftime when Virgil van Dijk powered in a header from Mohamed Salah’s corner. However, their celebrations were short-lived as the goal was ruled out after Andy Robertson was deemed offside for obstructing Gianluigi Donnarumma’s view. Moments later, City punished that reprieve in ruthless fashion. Nico Gonzalez’s 20-yard strike deflected off Van Dijk, wrong-footing Giorgi Mamardashvili and it doubled the hosts’ advantage just before the break.<\/p>