Liverpool 1-4 Manchester City: Premier League – live reaction!

Here’s Phil Foden, who was two years old when City last won at Anfield

“We showed the courage to play our football and in the end it paid off. Sometimes we’re slow to get going and I think we were better in the second half. We definitely forced the errors, and that’s something we’ve been working on in training. [Could you have struck your goal any better?] No. I struck it perfect and I was just pleased to see it go in.

“This gives us every chance of winning the league, but the job isn’t done. We just need to keep winning games.”

Great teams can collapse suddenly – it happened to the Invincibles – but I don’t think this is the end of Liverpool. It’s been a bit of a perfect storm – injuries, fatigue, confidence, a slight change in style – and they are young enough to bounce back next season.

Peep peep! Manchester City end their Anfield hoodoo and Liverpool’s title challenge with a thumping victory. They were the better team, with Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling excellent, but the game turned on two extraordinary mistakes from Alisson in the 73rd and 76th minutes. Ilkay Gundogan also scored twice and missed a penalty in a surreal game. The upshot is that City go five points clear of Manchester United with a game in hand. They will take some catching now.

90 min This will be City’s first win at Anfield since 2003. They haven’t actually played that well, they had Ilkay Gundogan blooter a penalty into Stanley Park, and they are still winning 4-1.

89 min “If Robertson and Henderson have a scrap with each other away to Leipzig,” says Niall Mullen, “Liverpool’s 95-96 Blackburn tribute act will be complete.”

88 min “Hello Rob,” says Geoff Wignall. “Now I know Liverpool are about to romp to another title, by ten or so points, because I always believe what I read a) in The Guardian and b) online. I’m just a bit puzzled by their strategy for achieving that. Any elucidation you can offer?”

It was a prediction. Have been they cancelled as well?

87 min Liverpool are passing the ball around, trying to get the match over with as soon as possible.

86 min “Liverpool hasn’t won many matches with Thiago,” says Barry Owens. “Coincidental as opposed to causation I’m sure.”

I think there is a worrying whiff of Juan Veron and the golden goose about Thiago, though he’s far from the only reason for their collapse. They need to get Henderson back in midfield, for one thing.

84 min Alexander-Arnold leaves one on Ederson, a gratuitous tackle that leads to a bit of finger-pointing.

Pick that out! It started when Jesus floated a pass out to Foden on the right. He ran at Robertson, hugging the ball on his left foot. Then, in the blink of an eye, he shifted it inside and spanked a spectacular shot that went through the hand of Alisson. There was barely any backlift, yet Foden hit it so well that Alisson was still beaten for pace.

Phil Foden caps a majestic second-half performance with a blistering goal!

81 min I still can’t believe that. Two diabolical howlers from Alisson, the best goalkeeper in the world, in the space of four minutes. It’s not especially fair, but they may come to symbolise Liverpool’s increasingly farcical title defence.

80 min “No doubt it was a penalty, Rob, but Salah seemed to throw himself a bit in order to exaggerate the contact?” says Simon McMahon. “I’ve no problem with that, but a Celtic player just this week has been banned for two games (subject to appeal) for something similar, in as much as that while there may have been contact (and a penalty awarded in both cases), the Celtic player was cited for simulation after the initial contact. Sorry, I’m confusing myself now. VAR is great though, isn’t, it?”

This is utterly bizarre. Alisson, under no real pressure, passed the ball straight to Bernardo Silva on the right edge of the area. He ran infield and scooped the ball over Alisson, allowing Sterling to head into the net from a yard. What the hell has just happened?

Alisson has done it again!

That was bizarre. Alisson had already given the ball away 20 seconds earlier when he hooked a clearance straight to Foden, 25 yards from goal in the inside-right channel. Foden went straight for the throat, slipping gracefully between Henderson and Robertson in the area before stabbing the ball across to Gundogan. He rammed it into the roof of the net from close range. It’s Gundogan’s second goal, but Foden deserves so much credit for his devastating run and pass.

Gundogan gets his second after a howler from Alisson!

73 min Foden has moved to the right, which is a surprise as he’s been excellent in the second half.

73 min “My friend had to explain every United fan’s hope for a 0-0 to his son yesterday: you want City to lose, but you never went Liverpool to win,” says Mark Childs. “Good parenting: teaching your child the pettiness of being a supporter.”

72 min A City substitution: Gabriel Jesus replaces the largely anonymous Riyad Mahrez.

71 min: Stones has a goal disallowed! It’s very tight but I think he was just offside when he volleyed Foden’s cross past Alisson. VAR are checking.

70 min Fabinho, who wasn’t booked when he gave away the penalty, is booked now for pulling back Foden.

69 min The increasingly influential Sterling crosses dangerously towards Foden, who goes over after a challenge from behind by Robertson. The ball rolls back to Bernardo Silva, who blasts a half-volley wide from 20 yards. There were no penalty appeals from City and, while I don’t think it was a foul, it was a risky challenge from Robertson.

68 min A draw is still a decent result for City, less so for Liverpool. With that in mind, Jurgen Klopp is making a double substitution: Xherdan Shaqiri and James Milner replace Thiago, who looked a little lost, and the impressive Curtis Jones.

64 min On the possible Dias red card, there was another defender coming across, so a yellow card was probably fair enough. But it also makes you wonder whether Dias really needed to pull Salah back. I suppose it was just panic.

64 min “I was going to point out that this was just as dull for non-neutrals, but that was clearly too much temptation for the football gods,” wrote Liz Rippin when the score was 1-0. “Now I’m probably going to have to ritually sacrifice one of the cats.”

I’m glad Mo Salah has given Piechnik a last-minute reprieve.

Salah smashes the ball into the net!

PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL! Ruben Dias makes a mess of a clearance on the edge of the area and then pulls back Salah. Another clear penalty. Dias is booked – but surely that’s a red card under the David Luiz Law?

59 min “Getting desperate,” says Matt Dony. “Null and void?”

This season and last? If you really insist.

58 min: Just wide from Jones! That was good play from Liverpool. Alexander-Arnold sprayed a lovely crossfield pass out to Jones on the left. He ran through Cancelo’s challenge and sidefooted a low shot that deflected just wide of the far post.

58 min It’s been a game of subtle moodswings, and at the moment City look much more confident.

56 min “When a goal goes in can you add the suffix NCOV to denote ‘No Chance of VAR’ so I don’t put too much emotional energy in hoping it will be disallowed,” says Ben Bennett. “A little gift to the hopeful/hopeless.”

There’s always a chance of VAR, even after the final whistle.

55 min If City win this they will be five points clear of Manchester United with a game in hand. It’s hard to see them losing that sort of lead, especially while they are only conceding one goal every month.

54 min Liverpool went almost four years without losing a league game at Anfield; now they are facing a third consecutive defeat. Verily, it is a funny old game.