Liverpool
became the favorite to win the Premier
League after beating title rival
Manchester City 3-2 on Sunday, with
Philippe Coutinho's late goal settling a
thrilling and emotionally charged match
at Anfield.
The Brazilian playmaker pounced on City
captain Vincent Kompany's poor
clearance to curl home a 78th-minute
winner, leaving Liverpool seven points
clear of third-placed City and needing to
win its last four games to guarantee a
first championship since 1990.
Driven on by its passionate and frenzied
support, Liverpool dominated City early
on and went 2-0 ahead, thanks to goals
by Raheem Sterling and Martin Skrtel in
the opening 26 minutes.
City produced a stirring second-half
fightback, with David Silva scoring in the
57th before Glen Johnson's own goal five
minutes later looked like giving the
visitors a point.
Jordan Henderson was red-carded in
injury time for Liverpool but that, and a
second-half injury to Daniel Sturridge,
failed to take the gloss off a 10th straight
win for Brendan Rodgers' side. The title
race is far from over, though, with City
having two games in hand and second-
placed Chelsea having the title in its own
hands if it can beat Liverpool at Anfield
on April 27 and win its other four games.
All the momentum is with Liverpool,
however, and it would mean so much to
the club and its fans if it can win the
league this season, given that Tuesday
marks the 25th anniversary of the
Hillsborough disaster in which 96
Liverpool fans were killed in a stadium
crush.
Thousands of Liverpool fans lined the
streets outside Anfield hours before
kickoff to cheer the players into the
ground, and the sea of flags, scarves and
banners in the iconic Kop stand harked
back to the days in the late 1970s and
'80s when the club dominated English
and European football.
A string of tributes to mark the upcoming
Hillsborough anniversary added to the
gravitas of the contest and City's players
simply failed to deal with it in the first
half.
By the 26th minute, they had fallen 2-0
behind, lost midfield driving force Yaya
Toure to an apparent groin injury and
their defense was being undone by the
movement of Luis Suarez, Sturridge,
Sterling and the excellent Coutinho. The
Liverpool crowd also played its part.
Rodgers said the club would "unleash" its
supporters on City and there was lift off
inside the stadium when Sterling opened
the scoring.
Suarez played a pass in behind Kompany,
whose fitness was in doubt after twisting
his knee in training on Saturday, and
Sterling raced through before coming to a
stop, befuddling Kompany and
goalkeeper Joe Hart with some nifty
footwork and then stroking home into an
empty net.
City looked rattled already and its
predicament worsened in the 19th when
Toure hobbled off. Then, after an
unmarked Steven Gerrard had a header
brilliantly saved by Hart, the midfielder
whipped in the resulting corner for Skrtel
to peel off Kompany and glance a header
into the far corner. Cue furious scarf-
waving across Anfield.
"Poetry in Motion" was the chant from
the Kop and although City settled by the
end of the first half, with Fernandinho
having a low shot saved by Simon
Mignolet, Liverpool still looked more
potent especially on the counter-attack.
Liverpool's work rate was something to
behold — two crunching tackles by
Coutinho told its own story — but City
raised the tempo at the start of the
second half, with the introduction of
James Milner for Jesus Navas sparking an
improvement.
And it was Milner, after exchanging
passes with Fernandinho, who crossed
for Silva to poke home in the 57th.
It was all City and the equalizer came
five minutes later, a series of intricate
passes setting free Silva, whose center
was deflected unwittingly into the net off
Johnson.
Sergio Aguero came on for Edin Dzeko
after 68 minutes for his first action in a
month after a hamstring injury and his
cross should have enabled Silva to slide
in a third, but he couldn't get a
meaningful touch.
It was left for Coutinho to grab the
winning goal after Kompany miscued his
clearance. Henderson's dismissal, for a
studs-first challenge on Samir Nasri,
came too late to make a difference.
Will Moses ever take us to the promised land with this 1 minute comeos? Lol just saying.
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