Manchester City’s hopes of winning the treble were ended on Saturday as they crashed out of the FA Cup in embarrassing fashion, losing to Liverpool 3-2 in the semi-finals.
From the first minute City looked nervous and made several individual errors, while Liverpool looked significantly fresher than their counterparts.
It took until the 10th minute for Jurgen Klopp’s men to take the lead as Ibrahima Konate rose highest in the box and headed past Zack Steffen in the away goal, following an Andrew Robertson header.
It was a game to forget for the American, who soon after failed to clear the ball in time and allowed Sadio Mane to slide in and virtually tackle the ball into the net.
City’s stand-in stopper was no doubt disappointed with Liverpool’s third goal as well, as Mane’s volley from the edge of the box managed to squirm in at Steffen’s near post.
But for all Liverpool’s dominance, they only mustered four shots in the first half, compared to City’s one.
And with their second of the game, City managed to find the back of the net, after Gabriel Jesus wriggled free of Fabinho in the box and teed up Jack Grealish to fire in with his left foot past the covering Trent Alexander-Arnold on the Liverpool goal-line.
City certainly improved after the break and Jesus did have two good opportunities to score, although on both occasions those efforts were saved by Alisson.
But overall Liverpool still were in charge after the break. Mane and then Naby Kieta mustered speculative strikes, before Mohamed Salah went close with a chip.
Despite Liverpool’s dominating for almost the whole game, Bernard Silva made injury-time very interesting by prodding the ball in after Riyad Mahrez forced Alisson to palm the ball into the middle from his shot.
The Sky Blues managed dangerous efforts from Fernandinho, Mahrez and Raheem Sterling in injury-time, before remarkably, Liverpool themselves spurned late opportunities from Salah and then Roberto Firmino, which proved to be the last chances of an enthralling game.
Here’s how we rated both teams at Wembley..
1. Zack Steffen- 3
A game to forget for the usually reliable goalkeeper. His first error was calamitous as Mane slid in to cut out his clearance and score, while he’ll also be disappointed with the Senegal attacker’s second. Steffen did bounce back well in the second half.
2. Joao Cancelo- 5
Found it tough in the first half against Luis Diaz, and didn’t offer the same level of creativity as we’re accustomed to seeing.
3. John Stones- 6
One of City’s better performers, Stones didn’t give away many errors, but was often forced to clear the ball long with limited options in midfield.
4. Nathan Ake- 6
Was outmuscled by Konate for the opening goal, but tracked back well in the second half to stop a Salah chance. The Dutchman was good in possession despite Liverpool’s pressing.