Liverpool won the 2022/23 season’s curtain raiser with a hard-earned 3-1 victory against Manchester City in the Community Shield.
Jurgen Klopp’s men looked much sharper than their Premier League-winning opponents and finally showed their quality to claim victory at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah came close to breaking the deadlock after dancing past Joao Cancelo on a drive from the right wing, but only found the side netting.
Kevin De Bruyne also hit the side-netting at the other end from Salah’s free pass at the back, although the Belgian’s fierce shot was deflected beyond Virgil van Dijk.
Andy Robertson headed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross beautifully, but his effort was not clear.
Ederson was first called into action when he got a glove on Jordan Henderson’s cross which was destined to be tapped in by Luis Diaz as the breathless first half continued.
And Liverpool took the lead when Alexander-Arnold was given a free on the edge of the penalty area to curl one in off the far post, with Nathan Ake narrowly deflecting his drive.
After just three touches in the opening 25 minutes, Erling Haaland missed two great chances to equalize soon after, first firing straight at Adrian before pouncing on an acrobatic volley that failed to make clean contact with the ball.
Just after the break, Riyad Mahrez managed to hold off Robertson after meeting Rodri’s clever ball over the top, but he was off-balance as he struck the ball and Adrian dealt with it.
Substitute Darwin Nunez almost doubled Liverpool’s lead after catching City napping at the back, but his attempted shot past Ederson was denied by the Brazilian’s face.
Pep Guardiola’s men were initially denied an equalizer when Kevin De Bruyne slotted past Phil Foden before Julian Alverez poked the ball past Adriano at the second attempt, but City were awarded after a lengthy VAR review.
Liverpool were angered when Nunez’s header clearly hit the arm of Ruben Dias, but referee Craig Pawson denied him a penalty but awarded the Reds a free-kick after watching the incident.
Salah stepped up to collect and pick out the bottom corner to restore Liverpool’s lead with seven minutes remaining. And the Reds sealed victory in stoppage time when Salah’s cross sent Robertson back across goal for Nunez to head home.
With virtually the last kick of the game, Haaland somehow fired home from six yards when facing a virtually open net with Adrian stranded on the floor after Foden hit the post to compound City’s woes.
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