Manchester City have lost their big Premier League game with Liverpool at Anfield.
Manchester City’s winless run continued with a 2-0 loss against the Reds, who looked a cut above the visitors.
Pep Guardiola’s side had no answer, and gave a performance that was full of fear. You could clearly see a lot of the players were lacking confidence.
Lacking confidence is a natural by-product of going on a winless run like this, and City are clearly suffering right now.
But despite the poor collective display today, one man has come in a fair bit of credit from Guardiola – and that was Nathan Ake.
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Pep Guardiola hails Nathan Ake after Mo Salah battle against Liverpool
Speaking straight after the game, Guardiola praised Ake, who played on the left of City’s backline in place of Josko Gvardiol.
He said (via BBC Sport): “Nathan [Ake] was exceptional against maybe one of the great wingers. I congratulate Liverpool, they deserve the victory and we accept the situation right now and we’ll build from that.”
Ake has tended to fare quite well against Salah in previous meetings between the two clubs.
| Nathan Ake vs Liverpool |
| Minutes played – 90 |
| Touches – 78 |
| Passes/completed – 57/49 (86%) |
| Duels/won – 9/5 |
| Defensive actions – 8 |
And the Dutchman was actually really decent again today, even though the Egyptian did provide and assist and score a penalty.
Liverpool’s opening goal wasn’t Ake’s fault, with Manuel Akanji the closest player to him when he was crossing the ball. And he wasn’t involved in the mix-up that led to the penalty.
As per Sofascore, Ake used the ball well, completing 49/57 (86%) passes.
He was also solid defensively. He made four tackles, including one which came as the last man against Salah, two interceptions, one block and one clearance.
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Ake can hold his head high
Guardiola heaped personal and professional praise on Ake earlier this week, and it was at least nice to see him play well against Liverpool.
The £41 million star was up against potentially the most in-form player in the world right now in Salah, and he actually handled him extremely well, as he has done in the past.
Josko Gvardiol started the season really well and at one point it looked like Ake might have to get used to the Manchester City bench.
But his position at the club ahs strengthened after the Liverpool result, and it would be good to see him get a bit of a run, in a backline that has looked shaky all season.
