1 hour ago
2
Liverpool will be left to rue a pivotal goal from Manchester City after its construction came from one of Arne Slot's former coaches.
City closed the gap on Arsenal to just four points with a convincing win over Liverpool. Goals from Erling Haaland, Nico González, and Jeremy Doku secured the victory, while Haaland also saw a penalty brilliantly saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
González’s long-range strike from a corner took a deflection off Virgil van Dijk’s leg, wrongfooting the Georgian goalkeeper and giving City a second goal before half-time. The corner will have been thanks to the work of set-piece coach James French, who previously worked at Liverpool.
French, who had previously been behind the scenes for the Reds for the past 13 years, joined Pep Lijnders at Manchester City after Jurgen Klopp’s former assistant took up the role as Guardiola’s new deputy.
French, who originally joined Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers, was hired to focus on set-piece coaching and analysis at the Etihad club. The Athletic describes him as an “integral” part of Liverpool’s success during Klopp’s era.
Guardiola has overhauled his backroom staff over the summer, seeking fresh perspectives as he aims to reclaim the Premier League title after a season that fell short of his high standards.
Liverpool has struggled to defend set-pieces this season especially in the Premier League.
Speaking after the Real Madrid game, Slot said: "It's fantastic when you play a match like that and then win. Tonight showed once again how important set pieces are in football these days. In the Premier League, we've now conceded four like that but, in the Champions League, we've now scored four like that and conceded zero.
Following the defeat to City when asked about the game by BBC Sport, the Dutchman added: "Set-pieces can make a difference - now we conceded from set-pieces. That was a fair reflection us being 2-0 down.
"The game went as it went, we would have been lucky going in 1-0 down at half-time. So it has been an influential decision.You cannot predict how the second half would have gone. It was obvious and clear that City were the better team in the first half.
"They were dominating the game and they were better than us. We were having a lot of problems and trouble bringing the ball out from the back, so we lost it early and they started playing."
English (US) ·