Sports

EPL: Liverpool Open 11-point Lead After 2-0 Win Against Man City

Published

9 months ago

February 23, 2025

Liverpool took a giant stride towards the Premier League title on Sunday as a 2-0 win over Man City opened up an 11-point lead at the top of the table over Arsenal.

Mohamed Salah was again Liverpool’s star performer as he opened the scoring with his 30th goal of the season before setting up Dominik Szoboszlai to double the lead before half-time.

Just days after exiting the Champions League to Real Madrid, this was another sobering defeat for the dethroned English champions, who are now 20 points adrift of the leaders.

So often during Pep Guardiola’s glorious reign, Liverpool have come up just short in English football’s great rivalry of recent years.

However, their time to match Manchester United’s record of 20 English top-flight titles now appears just months away in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.

Arsenal’s shock 1-0 home defeat to West Ham on Saturday had eased the pressure on Liverpool, that had built after dropping points in two of their last three games at Everton and Aston Villa.

A trip to the Etihad has for so long been the stiffest test of all, but Man City’s defensive frailties were easily exposed and they also badly missed the presence of the injured Erling Haaland in attack.

Liverpool, by contrast, had their talisman fit and firing as Salah took his staggering tally this season to 25 goals and 16 assists in 27 Premier League appearances.

The Egyptian fired the visitors in front on 14 minutes thanks to a brilliantly executed set-piece routine.

Alexis Mac Allister’s corner was flicked by Szoboszlai into Salah’s path and his shot deflected off Nathan Ake past the despairing dive of Ederson.

At the other end, City’s own Egyptian international showed his ability to finish, but Omar Marmoush had strayed offside before being played in by Phil Foden.

City winger Jeremy Doku was skipping past Trent Alexander-Arnold at will, yet the Belgian consistently failed to deliver a telling cross or shot.

Salah was not so forgiving as he raced onto a long ball over the top and teed up Szoboszlai to wrong-foot Ederson.

The final outcome could have been much more humiliating for City had Liverpool had been as accurate on the counter-attack after the break.

Curtis Jones had a third goal ruled out by a VAR review for offside after Szoboszlai just failed to time his run through the heart of the Man City defence.

Ederson was forced into a stunning save from Luis Diaz and only a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Abdukodir Khusanov denied Szoboszlai a second.

Marmoush scored a hat-trick in last weekend’s 4-0 win over Newcastle and remained a lively threat as he flashed another effort across the front of Alisson Becker’s goal.

But Man City lacked the end product to make nearly 70 percent possession count.

Despite an eighth league defeat of the season, Guardiola’s men remain in fourth and will be confident of securing their place in the Champions League next season with a top-five finish likely to be enough.

However, after an unprecedented run of four consecutive titles, Man City look like yesterday’s team with Liverpool now champions in waiting.

Related Topics:#Liverpool #man city Premier league

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Super Eagles’ 2026 World Cup Dream Ends In Penalty Shoot-out Loss To DR Congo

Published

14 hours ago

November 17, 2025

Editor

Nigeria will not be at the 2026 World Cup after they lost the CAF playoff final to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday night.

The Super Eagles took an early lead in the first half after Frank Onyeka’s shot was deflected in.

But the Leopards were level after Mechak Elia pounced on a defensive error to finish past Stanley Nwabali.

The game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes and was decided on penalties.

Calvin Bassey, Moses Simon and Semi Ajayi all missed their kicks as DR Congo clinched the ticket to represent Africa at the intercontinental playoffs.

They will now play in a six-team intercontinental qualifier, which will be staged from March 23 to 31 in 2026 to decide the final two sides for next year’s World Cup.

Sports

NPFL26: Bendel Insurance Beat Kano Pillars 3-2

Published

2 days ago

November 15, 2025

Editor

Bendel Insurance jinx of inconsistent and goal drought in the current Nigeria Premier Football League season were on Saturday evening broken at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in Benin as they defeated Kano Pillars 3-2 to move a step out of the deep.
‎
‎The Benin Arsenals returned to winning ways with a remarkable 3-2 comeback
‎victory over the sai Masu Gida side with goals from Kayode Oke, Emmanuel Dung and Akpan Emmanuel who handed
‎ Kennedy Boboye his first maximum points since joining Insurance over a month ago.
‎.
‎Kayode Oke opened scoring for Insurance in the 17th minute, but veteran midfielder Rabiu Ali got an equalizer for the visitors from the penalty spot in the 34th minute.

READ ALSO:Bendel Insurance Head Coach Suspended
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‎Four minutes later, Chiedozie Okorie gave Pillars the lead in the halftime of the match day 13 encounter under the rain.
‎
‎Insurance returned for the second half with double substitution and mounted much pressure on the visitors and got rewarded for their efforts with a spirited comeback when Emmanuel Dung powered an equalising goal for Insurance in the 77th minute with a rocket strike from the edge of the box to send the already agitated home fans into wild jubilation.
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‎As time drifted away from the regulation mark, Emmanuel Akpan sealed the victory with a stoppage-time strike in the 88 minutes.

‎It was Insurance second victory and first for coach Kennedy Boboye in the current football season.

The Benin Arsenals now move up to 17th on the table with 12 points.

READ ALSO:Enabulele Congratulates Bendel Insurance For Pre-Season Tournament Performance
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‎Speaking during a post match media conference, coach Kennedy Boboye said that he was relieved to have his first maximum points as Vendel Insurance Manager after five matches -one loss, one win and three draws so far.
‎
‎He said that he remains focused and determined to get out of the red zone.

‎”I am relieved and happy we got the victory we have been looking for and I must give it to my players,fans and the supporters club who are always there for us irrespective of the results we posted.
‎I dedicate the victory to them,” he said.
‎

Sports

Arsenal’s Gabriel Injured In Senegal Friendly

Published

2 days ago

November 15, 2025

Editor

Arsenal’s defensive rock, Gabriel Magalhães, limped off during Brazil’s 2-0 friendly win over Senegal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

This injury is going to be a major headache for Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta, who still has many players out injured.

The 27-year-old Brazilian center-back was forced to depart in the 64th minute, clutching his right thigh and groin area following a seemingly innocuous challenge. He was replaced by Flamengo’s Wesley.

This comes at the worst possible time for the Premier League leaders, who face Tottenham in the North London Derby on November 23, barely a week away, followed by Champions League and league tests against Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti later confirmed it was a muscular issue but offered no timeline, stating: “We’ll have to wait and see on the extent—it’s too early to say.”