The Manchester City players have been licking their wounds today, after losing 2-0 to Liverpool in the Premier League.
Manchester City were beaten pretty comfortably on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium, with Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai on target for the visitors.
City were without Erling Haaland, and the lack of a killer up front really stung City.
Pep Guardiola’s side actually created several chances in the game but just weren’t as clinical as their opponents.
It was just an evening to forget, with lots of players struggling to perform.
But some Man City fans praised Abdukodir Khusanov for his gutsy showing, and Guardiola also picked out a couple of players he actually felt were ‘extraordinary’.
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Pep Guardiola lauds ‘extraordinary’ Savinho and Doku after Man City’s defeat to Liverpool
Despite falling to a 2-0 defeat, Manchester City were not terrible against the Reds.
It’s clear at the moment that this team needs rebuilding, and steps were taken in January to start that process.
Very few City fans thought a positive result against Liverpool was possible on Sunday, and that ultimately did come to pass.
But City still gave it a decent go under the circumstances, and after the game, Guardiola was quick to heap praise on his two wide players, who caused genuine problems.
He said (via Football Daily): “But yeah, it’s happened because before we had the chances one pass from Savinho that Omar was alone and break it there.
“It was a little detail that in that moment it could be differently because we were making a good build-up. The wingers were brilliant.
“Saving and Doku was extraordinary, extraordinary. So how many times one, one against, two, two. And in that moment we need when they attract one, two, three players, bring the next step for attacking midfielders, for the people up front.
“And that make the next actions. And that is what we miss.”
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Both Doku and Savinho were livewires for City against Liverpool, and did try their best to be direct and make things happen.
Certainly, they were bright sparks on the day.
There was always a good chance that Doku would start for City against Liverpool, given the question marks over Trent Alexander-Arnold defensively.
But Doku seriously made life very uncomfortable for the England international.
He may not have scored or assisted, but as per Sofascore, the Belgian did complete 15 dribbles, which is the most by one player in a single Premier League match in the last four seasons.
And incredibly, Alexander-Arnold was dribbled past at least two times more than any other player in a single PL match over the last ten seasons.
