Manchester City vs. Liverpool final score, result – EFL Cup: Haaland kept “releasing bullet”, Liverpool became the former champion.

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Match summary

Entering this match, coach Pep Guardiola registered 12 out of the 16 Man City members who attended the 2022 World Cup and registered six of them in the starting lineup, including Akanji, Laporte, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, and Gundogan. On the Liverpool side, only three players who have just returned from Qatar were registered, including Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, and Darwin Nunez, the only one to play right from the start.

Erling Haaland, who didn’t compete in the World Cup, showed his great desire to score after more than a month when club-level football stopped, making way for the 2022 tournament. In the 10th minute, he got what he wanted. From De Bruyne’s cross from the left wing, Man City's "number 9" speeded up and finished the ball in close range to open the scoring for Man City.

Haaland kept scoring in this match.

Despite having to concede an early goal, Liverpool still played confidently and soon found the equalizer in the 20th minute, when Milner made a neat cross from the right to let Fabio Carvalho easily score.

The same score-chasing scenario occurred, but more intensely, in the first three minutes of the second half. Man City took the lead again in the 47th minute. After getting the ball from Rodri’s long-range pass from the left, Ryad Mahrez skillfully controlled and eliminated Andy Robertson with a cut inside, then easily knocked goalkeeper Kelleher down. But just a minute later, Liverpool leveled the score again when Mo Salah cushioned the ball into an empty goal from Nunez's assist after a counter-attack.

Salah also made his mark with a goal.

In the 58th minute, Man City took the lead for the third time when De Bruyne combined with Cole Palmer in a corner kick and then crossed the ball from the left for midfielder Nathan Ake to head and successfully beat Liverpool’s keeper. Coach Guardiola's team did not allow the opponent to close the gap this time.

Ake's goal sealed the victory for Man City.

From the 61st minute on, Guardiola launched four more players who had just returned from the World Cup: respectively, John Stones, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, and Bernardo Silva. They aided Manchester City in maintaining control of the game and maintaining a score advantage until the final whistle. 

Final score

MC - E. Haaland (10')

LIV - F. Carvalho (20')

MC - R. Mahrez (47')

LIV - M. Salah (48')

MC - N. Ake (58')

Squad

Manchester City: Ortega Moreno - Lewis, Laporte, Akanji (Stones 61’), Ake - Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (Bernardo 88’), Mahrez, Haaland (Foot 73’), Palmer (Grealish 73’)

Liverpool: Kelleher - Milner (Phillips 38’), Gomez, Matip, Robertson - Elliott (Henderson 57’), Bajcetic (Fabinho 46’), Thiago (Keita 70’) - Salah, Nunez, Carvalho (Oxlade-Chamberlain 46’).

Highlights

This triumph helped Manchester City win tickets to the quarterfinals against Southampton on January 10 and turned Liverpool into a former champion in the English League Cup.