‘Ran out of ideas’ - Micah Richards & Roy Keane point to key reason Man City fell to a defeat at Liverpool

Micah Richards and Roy Keane both pointed to the same reason why Manchester City emerged empty handed from their visit to Liverpool on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola’s side were looking to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal after the Gunners battled to a 1-0 win at Leeds United earlier that afternoon. City looked to be on their way to a hard-earned three points at Anfield after Phil Foden fired them in front eight minutes into the second half.  But their celebrations were cut short after referee Anthony Taylor disallowed the goal following a VAR review revealed Erling Haaland had fouled Fabinho in the buildup.

Liverpool made the most of that let-off by securing the points as Mohamed Salah raced in on goal and beat the advancing Ederson to land the decisive blow in an intriguing contest.  City had some late pressure but were unable to force an equaliser and Sky Sports pundit Richards claimed his former club of ‘ran out of ideas’.

“I think the referee had made a decision, he’s gone to the monitor and changed his mind,” he explained. “Was it enough?  We will have to look back at it.  But you have to give credit to Liverpool.  They’ve dug in, their defensive shape was good and Man City just ran out of ideas.

“We said before the game if they keep Kevin De Bruyne quiet, not got those balls into [Erling] Haaland, it was always going to be difficult.  It was a great spectacle, tactically City’s wing-backs didn’t really pay off. But fair play to Liverpool.”

Keane agreed with his fellow pundit but insisted Liverpool had to take credit for battling to a win, despite having to rely on a large slice of luck after Foden’s disallowed goal. “It was brilliant from Liverpool in terms of finding a way to win a game of football,” explained the former Manchester United captain.

“The emotions are a huge part of football and they deserve it.  City did run out of ideas.  Liverpool hung in there, probably should have scored a bit earlier, they had a big bit of luck with the decision [to disallow Foden’s goal]. Talk about Jurgen Klopp being at the end at Liverpool.  Certainly not, you see the passion, but a huge day for Liverpool and a massive three points.  They deserve it, you couldn’t begrudge them the win.”