Manchester City landed two late sucker punches as they came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield. And supporters are fuming with what they saw from one player on Sunday afternoon.
Although the game was played at a high intensity, chances proved to be a premium as two of the Premier League’s best teams sought an early advantage. The best of the bunch in the first half came inside three minutes, as Erling Haaland forced Alisson into a good save before the hosts cleared their lines.
Arne Slot’s side emerged with much more intent in the second half, pushing forward and coming close when Hugo Ekitike headed a delightful pass from Mohamed Salah wide. And they were rewarded for their efforts as Dominik Szoboszlai unleashed a vicious free-kick which crashed in off the post for the winner.
But with just six minutes left to play, City grabbed a late equaliser as Bernardo Silva poked the ball home after a Haaland flick on. And matters went from bad to worse for Liverpool, as Alisson gave away a late penalty for bringing down Matheus Nunes, which Haaland cooly dispatched.
Liverpool continued to push for a late equaliser, as Alexis Mac Allister’s long-range effort was palmed away by Gianluigi Donnarumma. And just seconds later, Szoboszlai was shown a red card for pulling back Haaland and denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Liverpool Need More From Star After Poor Performance vs City
With City coming into the match at Anfield having drawn their most recent Premier League game against Tottenham, Liverpool’s tails might well have been up ahead of kick off as they sought to maintain pace in the race for top four. But they were ultimately made to pay for a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.
One player who didn’t have the best of games was left-winger Cody Gakpo. With Luis Diaz sold in the summer, there’s been greater emphasis on him to produce on that flank, but end product has often been lacking from the Dutch international.
On Sunday, it was more of the same from Gakpo, who really failed to stamp his mark on the game. Caught offside on three occasions, he was guilty of bringing Liverpool attacks to a halt on several occasions, while he also lost possession eight times too.
While the 26-year-old is capable of moments which can flip games on their head, Liverpool haven’t seen the best of him in a number of weeks now. It begs the question of whether an upgrade might be necessary in the summer as the reigning Premier League champions seek to add a more dynamic threat to their ranks.
Liverpool Supporters Voice Frustration Over Gakpo’s Display
Although some supporters will no doubt still back Gakpo as a valuable asset to the team, many have expressed their exasperation with him for his performance against Manchester City. One stated on social media: “Gakpo REALLY needs to start moving the ball quicker. Everything is slow, delayed and I have no idea why. Really frustrating to watch.”
Another went even further, writing: “Gakpo is the worst attacker in the league man and the most annoying thing about him is that he thinks he’s good.” And that was echoed by someone else, who added: “Gakpo is the worst player I’ve ever seen.”
One more said: “Gakpo is genuinely the most useless footballer I’ve ever seen in my life.” And there were even calls from some fans for Liverpool to cut their losses. One stated: “Gakpo needs to leave this club. He needs to go. He slows down every counter attack, he can’t pass, he plays in slow motion and he can’t put the ball on target.”
A fellow Red then wrote: “Gakpo genuinely can’t start games anymore. He’s not just bad he’s actually making every single player around him infinitely worse.” And a final fan said: “Gakpo with no competition is one of the worst players I’ve seen play for us. Never known a 6ft4 player to be so useless aerially. Takes too many touches. If Bayern want him for £60m we should send him packing.”
