Alisson blunderland: Liverpool goalkeeper's errors hand Man City title boost

The normally assured Alisson went into meltdown when he sent two clearance kicks straight to City players before another error for City's fourth

Raheem Sterling on his way to scoring Manchester City's third goal as Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson looks on at Anfield. Picture: Jon Super/PA

Liverpool 1 (Salah pen 62) Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 49, 73, Sterling 76, Foden 83)

Liverpool's hopes of retaining the Premier League title are effectively over after Manchester City finally ended their Anfield jinx with a stunning victory.

Alisson Becker endured a second-half nightmare as City won in Liverpool's backyard for the first time since 2003 and only the second time since 1981.

The defeat leaves Jurgen Klopp's fallen champions 10 points behind leaders City, who have a game in hand.

And the result continued the recent demolition of Liverpool's once-proud home record.

After going 68 League games unbeaten at home, they have now lost three on the spin for the first time since 1963 and it is actually five games without a win at home now as the bad run started with draws against West Brom and Manchester United.

Although, to be fair, the game was finely-balanced until Alisson's second-half meltdown.

Ilkay Gundogan made amends for missing a penalty in a goalless first half by putting City ahead early in the second but when Mo Salah equalised from the penalty spot after being brought down by Ruben Dias it was difficult to pick a winner.

Certainly, City would have been happier with a point but they didn't expect such a helping hand from the Liverpool goalkeeper who sent two clearances straight to City players.

The first went to Phil Foden who set up Gundogan for his second goal of the game. Then, three minutes later, Alisson repeated his blunder, this time allowing Bernardo Silva to set-up Raheem Sterling for his first Anfield goal since leaving Liverpool in 2015 - and his 100th under the management of Pep Guardiola.

And to complete Liverpool's misery, Foden rifled a shot straight through Alisson's hands for City's fourth to round off their 14th win in a row in all competitions and their 10th on the spin in the Premier League.

With Manchester United inconsistent and shaky defensively, there looks no-one to stop City from racing to their fifth League title since the takeover by their Abu Dhabi owners in 2008.

Even without playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and top striker Sergio Aguero they had too much for Liverpool.

The return from illness and injury of three key players - Alisson, Fabinho, and Mane - looked a pre-match boost for Liverpool but it didn't stop them from crashing to their heaviest home defeat in the Premier League era.

Klopp erred on the side of caution by pairing Fabinho with Jordan Henderson in the centre of defence rather than risk either of his new boys, Ben Davies or Ozan Kabak, in a game Liverpool had to win.

Klopp also preferred the youthful energy of Curtis Jones to the experience of James Milner.

Guardiola meanwhile left his only recognised centre-forward, Gabriel Jesus, on the bench and played Foden as a 'false No. 9'. And it worked a treat with homegrown Foden underling what a fantastic talent he is.

Liverpool pressed City high from the kick-off but Thiago got somewhat carried away and was booked in only the second minute for a trip on Gundogan.

City's passing was slick and confident and they played round their opponents impressively at times without making too much progress at the other end of the pitch.

In a cagey start to the game, there were no attempts from either side in the first 24 minutes when Liverpool should have taken the lead from the first real opening of the game.

Trent Alexander-Arnold beat Oleksandr Zinchenko and sent over a pin-point cross for Sadio Mane who eluded his marker but sent his header just over the bar.

That gave Liverpool encouragement and Roberto Firmino forced the first save of the game when his powerful half-volley was tipped over by Ederson.

But City blew a great chance to take the lead after 36 minutes when referee Michael Oliver City pointed to the spot after Fabinho had tripped Sterling as he charged into the box. There were no complaints from Liverpool players but much to Guardiola's anguish City's woes from the penalty spot continued when Gundogan sent his effort over the bar - another City penalty miss at Anfield after Riyad Mahrez's 2018 blunder.

There was a stunning two-minute display of fireworks behind the Kop stand at the start of the second half but it was City who exploded into action by taking the lead after just four minutes.

It came from the same route of attack that had won them the first-half penalty with Sterling beating Alexander-Arnold on a run into the box and slipping a pass to Foden. His shot was parried by Alisson but Gundogan reacted the quickest to ram the loose ball over the line before he was mobbed by his delirious team-mates.

Liverpool produced an impressive response. Jones went close with a curling effort that John Stones deflected for a corner before they equalised with a penalty after a rare mistake by Dias. Under pressure from Salah, he made a mess of an interception and then pulled back the Egyptian who threw himself to the floor. Oliver pointed to the spot, booked Dias, and Salah sent Ederson the wrong way to make it 1-1.

Then came Alisson's meltdown, with goals from Gundogan and Sterling before Foden completed the rout and left Liverpool now with a battle to salvage a top-four place from what is becoming a miserable season.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson 4; Alexander-Arnold 5, Fabinho 6, Henderson 6, Robertson 5 (Kostas 85, 5); Jones 5 (Milner 68, 5), Thiago 5 (Shaqiri 68, 5), Wijnaldum 6; Salah 5, Firmino 5, Mane 5.

Booked: Thiago, Fabinho.

Man City (4-3-3) : Ederson 6; Cancelo 6, Stones 7, Dias 7, Zinchenko 6; Silva 7, Rodri 7, Gundogan 8; Mahrez 5 (Jesus 71, 5), Foden 9, Sterling 8.

Booked: Dias.

Referee: Michael Oliver 8.