Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City

Jordan Henderson opened the scoring for Liverpool

After the classic we were treated to last season expectations were high for the Liverpool v Man City game: they lived up to them.

The game started at a frantic pace with Liverpool having the ball in the back of the net after just nine minutes. Raheem Sterling sent the ball into the box for Adam Lallana. The midfielder turned on a sixpence and smashed his volley past Joe Hart at the near post. Unfortunately, considering the quality of the finish, the strike was correctly ruled out for offside.

But Liverpool were not to be prevented for too long. Some hapless defending from Vincent Kompany allowed Philippe Coutinho to nick the ball of him on the halfway line. The Brazilian quickly knocked it on to Sterling who exploited the space towards the City area before squaring it to Jordan Henderson on the edge of the area. The captain cut back inside, shifting the ball onto his right foot before lashing home a vicious strike into the far right-hand corner to give Liverpool an 11th minute lead.

If it was not for the post City would have been level in the 13th minute. A ball over the top by David Silva prompted confusion between Martin Skrtel and Simon Mignolet, both of which expected the other to deal with the ball. This hesitation allowed Sergio Aguero to get in between them. His shot on the angle beat Mignolet but not the far post.

A glorious passing move involving Silva, Aguero and Edin Dzeko saw the Citizens carve open the Liverpool defence. The move started with Silva, who was allowed the space to drive at the Liverpool box. Once he drew a defender he passed it on to Aguero, and his disguised pass into the box set up Dzeko to slot home into the bottom left corner and level the game with 25 minutes on the clock.

Lallana had another chance to get himself on the scoresheet in the 35th minute. Lazar Markovic's chipped pass over the head of Eliaquim Mangala found Lallana, but his stretching shot went wide of the far post.

City came out the blocks extremely quickly in the second half with Aguero going close in the 46th minute. He rose well to meet Silva's cross but just could not keep his head down.

Bar that header, it was all Liverpool in the second half with Philippe Coutinho running the show from midfield.

It took a moment of real brilliance from Coutinho in the 75th minute to restore Liverpool's lead. Coutinho, as we have come to expect in recent weeks, curled home a lovely effort from the edge of the area after being allowed too much space by the City back four.

Daniel Sturridge should have put the game to bed in the 87th minute. The forward was loitering on the edge of the City penalty area when we was picked out by a lacklustre back pass from Yaya Toure. Sturridge, who in fairness was quickly closed down by Kompany, got his shot off but dragged it wide of the far post.

Silva could have nicked a point in the 90th minute as the ball bounced to him following a powerful Yaya Toure run. He wrapped his foot round the ball but also wrapped his shot around the far post.

All in all, it was a thoroughly deserved victory for Liverpool this Sunday afternoon. Liverpool played brilliantly in the second half and looked like they had an extra yard of pace for the entirety of that match.