Salah scores 38th goal of season as Liverpool thrash Man City 3-0

Mohamed Salah scored the 38th goal of his debut season as Liverpool beat Manchester 3-0 in the first leg quarter final of the Champions League

Mohammed Salah scored his 38th goal of the season as Liverpool took control of their Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City with a convincing first-leg win.

Mohamed Salah set the hosts on their way in an incredible opening half an hour with a cool close-range finish.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain then thumped home from outside the area before Sadio Mane headed in a third.

Manchester City dominated after the break and Gabriel Jesus had the ball in the net but it was ruled offside.

It means the Premier League leaders need a big win in the second leg, which takes place at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, 10 April (19:45 BST), where City won 5-0 in the league in September.

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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain doubled Liverpool’s lead

Pep Guardiola’s men have swept aside so many teams this season, with very few finding a way to counter their dominance on the ball and their devastating quality in attack.

Most attempt to contain them but Liverpool got at Manchester City from the off and immediately had the visitors rattled.

City did not manage a single attempt on target in a first half Liverpool completely controlled but came into it more as the hosts, who lost Salah to injury, tired in the second period.

A goal for the visitors would have given them real hope of overturning the deficit but for all their possession they found themselves continually frustrated by the Liverpool defence and the hosts celebrated a huge result at the final whistle.

There have been many famous European nights at Anfield and this was up there with the best of them.

Klopp outflanks Guardiola again

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had the better of his head-to-head meetings with Pep Guardiola before this game with six wins from 12 games – and he outmanoeuvred his illustrious counterpart once more here.

Klopp took this game, if not the entire tie, out of Guardiola’s reach by sticking strictly to his instincts and the fiercely intense pressing style that so unsettled City in their only league defeat of the season.

Liverpool, in Klopp’s trademark style, never took a backward step and have uncovered an approach that rattles City in a manner that has escaped pretty much all of Guardiola’s opponents in this stellar season for his side.

They never allowed City to relax into their passing style, with the likes of David Silva in particular simply not afforded the time and space that has seen teams picked apart in their runaway league campaign.

And Klopp also has the attacking weapons that make Liverpool a team to fear in the shape of the potent triumvirate of Salah, Mane and the underrated Brazilian Roberto Firmino, a trio good enough to expose City’s defensive flaws.

It was Firmino who picked City apart for the opening goal for Salah, while the Egyptian turned provider for Mane’s header to put Liverpool three up before half-time.

Guardiola, meanwhile, had a rare night when his tactics went awry and his team selection was questionable.

Aymeric Laporte’s selection on the left side of City’s defence against Salah was always heavily laden with risk and so it proved as he struggled desperately to contain a series of Liverpool raids down his flank. He may have played with comfort against Everton’s limp attack on Saturday but this was a different league.

Most contentious of all was the exclusion of Raheem Sterling, in such wonderful form, to accommodate Ilkay Gundogan in midfield.

Sterling has suffered on previous visits to Anfield since his £49m move from Liverpool, becoming a target for sustained abuse from his former supporters.

Guardiola perhaps had that in mind when he made this surprise choice but City were left looking unbalanced. Gundogan, a fine player, was peripheral and it was no surprise when he was eventually replaced by Sterling.

This was not a good night for Manchester City or Guardiola. They will need a faultless one next Tuesday.