Manchester City inflicted a first defeat on Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool, with Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki all scoring in a Premier League win at Anfield that came against a home side reduced to 10 men.
BBC Sport’s player ratings, compiled by football reporter Aadam Patel, reflect a City performance that grew more dominant as the afternoon went on, and a Liverpool display that fell away after Ryan Gravenberch’s dismissal. Doku was the player of the match on the user ratings, finishing with an average score of 6.72.
The substitute made the biggest single impact. Doku came on in the 56th minute in place of Iliman Ndiaye and scored what the ratings describe as an absolute belter, earning him an 8. Cherki also received an 8, having capped a day to remember for City with a lovely goal, while Haaland was given the same mark despite a quiet first half and a huge missed chance early in the second. He made amends by finishing emphatically to give City the lead.
The players around them did much of the groundwork. Gianluigi Donnarumma was rated 7 after a shaky start, making a string of good saves early in the second half to deny Lewis Koumas and Gravenberch and keep the game level. Matheus Nunes also earned a 7, a great tackle in the box denying Bradley Barcola in the first half, while Ruben Dias and Marc Guehi both scored 7 for weathering the early storm and defending strongly at centre-half, particularly when Liverpool attacked the Kop end. Elliot Anderson was constantly involved, got the assist for Doku, and was lucky not to be booked for pulling Gravenberch back. Enzo Fernandez was rated 6, forcing Alisson into a good save in the first half but not really growing into the game until Gravenberch was sent off, while Nico O’Reilly was also given a 6: solid going forward but with his work cut out against Victor Munoz, and inevitably booked after fouling the Spaniard.
For Liverpool, Gravenberch had come in for the injured Dominik Szoboszlai and was the side’s best player until he was sent off for a second yellow card, a moment the ratings call naive on his part. He was given a 6. Alexis Mac Allister grew into the game and put in a good shift but struggled once Liverpool went down to 10 men, earning a 5. Further forward, the ratings are critical of Florian Wirtz, who was largely ineffective, made some poor decisions and was told he simply has to do better in games of this magnitude, receiving a 4. Barcola was sharp on the ball and did his defensive duties but, like Wirtz, must do more in the final third, according to the assessment that gave him a 5.
Two Liverpool players shared the highest marks of the home performance. Munoz was rated 7 for playing with fearlessness and being an absolute nuisance for City, causing O’Reilly all sorts of problems, and Koumas also took a 7 on his first Premier League start, the 21-year-old getting stuck in from the outset in an energetic display that was loved by the Anfield crowd. Alisson was given a 5, unable to keep out Haaland’s strike and then beaten by Doku’s effort and Cherki’s footwork. Virgil van Dijk scored 6, often pushed out of position as Liverpool dealt with being outnumbered in midfield and perhaps able to close Haaland down quicker. Ronald Araujo also took a 5 after a cheap early yellow card, and will be annoyed that the first two City goals came from his side. Jeremy Jacquet was rated 6 in what was described as not a bad display from a young talent, but a real eye-opener against a quality City attack, while Milos Kerkez got a 5 for battling well and pushing up regularly but lacking quality in the final third.
Among the replacements, Liverpool’s Tre Nyoni was rated 6 after coming on for Wirtz, with Jeremie Frimpong and Rio Ngumoha both given 5. Joe Gomez and Federico Chiesa came on late for Jacquet and Barcola, while Kostas Tsimikas, Wataru Endo, James McConnell and Giorgi Mamardashvili were unused. City’s Josko Gvardiol was rated 7 after replacing O’Reilly, with Allan and Bouaddi also introduced late on.
In the supporters’ scores, Doku led the way for City on 6.72, followed by Anderson and Haaland on 6.34 and Cherki on 6.26. Munoz was Liverpool’s highest scorer on 5.67, ahead of Koumas on 5.60 and Alisson on 5.47, with Wirtz on 4.22 and Frimpong bottom of the list on 3.92. The displayed averages are drawn from all submissions by BBC Sport users after the rating window closed.