Liverpool vs Man City player ratings: Florian Wirtz struggles in tough outing for Reds

Manchester City extended their perfect start to the season with a 3-0 win over Liverpool, inflicting the first defeat of Andoni Iraola’s reign on the visitors. Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki were on target for City, while Liverpool played the final stages with 10 men after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for a second yellow card.

The result was a statement from City, who cruised to victory after Liverpool’s numerical disadvantage became decisive.

Liverpool

Alisson (5) could do nothing to keep out Haaland’s strike, then was beaten by a superb effort from Doku and some neat footwork from Cherki. Ronald Araujo (5) picked up an early yellow card and will be frustrated that the first two City goals came from his side.

Virgil van Dijk (6) was often pulled out of position to help Liverpool cope with being outnumbered in midfield, and perhaps could have closed down Haaland more quickly. Jeremy Jacquet (6) was not a bad performer for such a young talent, though this will have been an eye-opener against a quality City attack.

Milos Kerkez (5) battled well with Iliman Ndiaye and pushed forward regularly but lacked quality in the final third. Alexis Mac Allister (5) grew into the game and put in a good shift but struggled once Liverpool were reduced to 10 men.

Ryan Gravenberch (6) came in for the injured Dominik Szoboszlai and was Liverpool’s best player until his dismissal, which was naive on his part. Victor Munoz (7) played with real fearlessness and was an absolute nuisance for City, causing Nico O’Reilly all sorts of problems.

Florian Wirtz (4) was largely ineffective and made some poor decisions, and he has to do better in games of this magnitude. Bradley Barcola (5) was sharp on the ball and carried out his defensive duties, but like Wirtz he must do more in the final third. Lewis Koumas (7) made his first Premier League start and got stuck in from the outset in an energetic display that was loved by the Anfield crowd.

Substitutes not used: Mamardashvili, Endo, Tsimikas, McConnell.

Manchester City

Gianluigi Donnarumma (7) had a shaky start but made a string of good saves early in the second half to deny Koumas and Gravenberch and keep the game level. Matheus Nunes (7) was impressive and made a great tackle in the box to deny Barcola in the first half.

Ruben Dias (7) did well to weather the early storm and keep Liverpool out. Marc Guehi (7) also delivered a strong performance at centre-half and can take satisfaction from the way he and Dias defended, especially when Liverpool attacked the Kop end.

Nico O’Reilly (6) was solid going forward but had his work cut out against Munoz and was inevitably booked for fouling him in the second half. Elliot Anderson (7) was always available for the ball and constantly involved, and was lucky not to be booked for pulling back Gravenberch. He also provided the assist for Doku.

Enzo Fernandez (6) forced Alisson into a good save in the first half but did not really grow into the game until Gravenberch was sent off. Iliman Ndiaye (6) was dangerous on the ball and had a few threatening moments before he was replaced by Doku.

Rayan Cherki (8) capped a day to remember for City with a lovely goal. Antoine Semenyo (7) was threatening all afternoon and was part of an attack that proved too good for Liverpool once City had the man advantage.

Erling Haaland (8) had a quiet first half and missed a huge chance early in the second half, but finished emphatically to give City the lead. Jeremy Doku (8), who came on for Ndiaye on 56 minutes, scored an absolute belter.

Substitutes not used: Rulli, Kovacic, Reis, Khusanov, Lewis.