A EXTRAORDINARY DAY of sport got going at Anfield as the Premier League champions pay a visit to the Reds.
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There is the small matter of the Capital One Cup later today (4pm), but to whet your appetite we’ve got two massive games in the Premier League.
While Arsenal and Everton meet at the Emirates at 2.05pm, it’s over to Merseyside where Liverpool host the champions.
Here are the teams:
Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Lovren, Henderson, Allen, Moreno, Markovic, Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling.
Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Mangala, Kompany, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Silva, Nasri, Dzeko, Aguero.
Brendan Rodgers has opted to leave strikers Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli on the bench and goes with a front three of Adam Lallana, Coutinho and Raheem Sterling.
City have Yaya Toure back in their team while Manuel Pellegrini sticks with the strike parternship of Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero.
When the teams met at the Etihad on the second day of the season, a Stevan Jovetic double helped City to a 3-1 victory.
How do you see this one going?
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Man City have started strongly here. Dzeko turns Emre Can and attempts to play in Aguero but the Argentine striker has trailed offside and it’s a free-kick to Liverpool.
Man City fans chanting: “You nearly won the league!” at Liverpool. That’s just mean.
Coutinho threads through Lallana and he’s got space to get a shot off. It’s straight at Hart, however, and the Man City keeper saves easily.
Moments later, the same two combine and Lallana smashes the ball into the roof of the net… but he’s ruled offside. What a goal that would have been!
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City (Jordan Henderson)
The home side are ahead through a spectacular hit from Henderson, who checks inside and drills his effort into the top corner. What a start!
Man City should really have equalised there. Silva picks out the run of Aguero with a ball over the top and he shoots past Mignolet only to see the ball come back out off the upright. Desperately unlucky.
Moreno takes on Zabaleta, who has looked sluggish in these opening minutes, and cuts onto his weaker right foot before shooting high and wide.
Sterling gets the better of Mangala with some nice footwork but there aren’t any team-mates on-hand to capitalise on his ball across the six-yard box.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City (Edin Dzeko)
The visitors draw level with a brilliantly-worked goal. Aguero comes inside and plays an inch-perfect pass to Dzeko, who makes no mistake from 15 yards.
Magnificent pass.
Markovic chips the ball in for Lallana and he is stretching to make contact but gets a shot away from a narrow angle. It hasn’t got sufficient accuracy, however, and rolls out over the end line.
Dzeko appears to be through on goal after Toure’s ball from deep but the linesman’s flag is raised. Aguero then gets caught offside seconds later.
Hart saves from Sterling after another good move from Liverpool. One minute of added time to play.
Half-time: Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City
The Man City skipper has been really out-of-sorts in recent weeks.
After leaving Liverpool waiting a couple of minutes, the Man City players return to the pitch and create the first chance of the second half. Zabaleta crosses for his compatriot Aguero, who can only head over the bar.
Kompany fouls Sterling and gets a talking to from referee Mark Clattenburg, but no booking.
Liverpool work the ball well with Coutinho and Lallana involved in setting up Sterling. The young England international can’t make decent contact with the cross though and Hart isn’t troubled.
Lallana has the ball in the back of the net for the second time today but, again, it’s disallowed.
Yellow card for Fernandinho. The Brazilian trips Countinho and goes into the book.
Meanwhile, Dzeko is making way for James Milner as Pellegrini looks to deal with Liverpool’s dominance in midfield.
Kolarov does excellently to beat Markovic down the left flank but then skies his attempted cross.
Daniel Sturridge is warming up…
Moreno brings down Zabaleta in the corner and City have a free-kick in a dangerous area. Silva takes… but it’s a poor delivery.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City (Coutinho)
After his belter against Southampton last week, Coutinho pops up with another goal of real quality. Thoroughly-deserved from one of Liverpool’s stand-out performers today.
Another change on both sides — Kolo Toure on for Moreno and Frank Lampard is introduced in place of Nasri.
One for stat fans — This is the first time Yaya Toure and Kolo Toure have played against each other in a professional match.
He’s only on the field but Bony has just been booked.
Then Yaya Toure, who has been bad in the second half, gives the ball straight to Sturridge but he shoots a couple of yards wide.
Obviously eager to make up for the mistake, Yaya Toure goes on a marauding run to set up Silva. The Spaniard gets plenty of power but it’s not on target.
Three minutes of added time to go.
Full-time: Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City
The three points moves Liverpool above Southampton into fifth place. They are level with Arsenal, who kick off against Everton in their game in-hand at 2.05pm. Man CIty remain second — five points adrift of Chelsea with one game more played.
Great article. I’m sure some of the unions will snap him up
The IRFU should be hiring him, we’re badly in need of a top level ref.
@Jim Demps: Absolutely Jim some of the refs in the PRO14 over the last few years have been poor enough.
Doyle is certainly better than most of them imo.
@TL55: Since John Lacey stepped away we have been crying out for a top referee. Frank Murphy and Andrew Brace have a good bit to go to be considered top quality refs. I’m not a fan of George Clancy either but I thought he did a top notch job in the Leinster v Ulster game.
To think ben whitehouse is still reffing international games and pro 14 games
So much of good refereeing is in the communication to the players-in almost all sports and Doyle was good in that regard. I remember him reffing a Japan and Ireland senior game couple of years back which I couldn’t believe at the time but he didn’t do anything untoward and hopefully for him he’ll be back into the swing of things somewhere asap
@Baz: Alain Rolland regularly reffed France because he was registered as an Irish ref, there was also a Nordie ref registered as Scottish though he never popped up as a ref at men’s international level. The Scottish union could do a lot worse than hiring Doyle as they haven’t had an international level men’s XVs ref for yonks. Their best ref works the 7s series and some of the women’s tournaments, I think I’ve only seen him do maybe one pro14 game.
He’s a sound man, JP.
Hopefully he can stay in Rugby fulltime.
But what actually is a Gowl ?
@Daragh Curtis: An old wooden ship from the American civil war era.
@Cian Nolan: perhaps, but I don’t think this was what POM was referring to.
It’s a word for the female genitalia, interestingly enough (from yesterday’s Irish Times) from the Irish word gabhal meaning crotch. Gabhal mná apparently is the full version.
@Daragh Curtis: Robb Stark is one. You’re welcome
@Decko49: nailed it!
@Daragh Curtis: A gowl is essentially what the “C-word” is everywhere else.