Three things that stood out at Manchester City against Liverpool: Thiago conjures, Guardiola rotates fatally

Ibrahima Konaté (9th) and Sadio Mané (17th, 44th) shot out a comfortable lead at the break. City came back through goals from Jack Grealish (47′) and Bernardo Silva (90′ + 1), but after the League Cup they also had to bury their second hope for the title this season.

Three things we noticed in the first FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium.

1.) Despite trembling at the end – it was a class difference

Jürgen Klopp compared the draw in the Premier League last Sunday to an “outstanding fight between two boxers on an equal footing”. You can’t say that about the new edition in the FA Cup.

Man City conceded several effective hits in the first ten minutes and were hanging heavily on the ropes at the latest after the bad blackout by substitute goalkeeper Zack Steffen at 0: 2 (17th). Liverpool played the best, City the worst first half this season.

The Skyblues gave up the center practically without a fight, made a remarkable number of simple play errors and had major problems with Liverpool’s aggressive pressing in the build-up. Often only the long diagonal hit remained, which the Reds easily defended away.

Under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City have stood for dominant possession football for years. And if things don’t go so well in terms of play, at least they counteract it properly. But City had nothing to oppose Liverpool physically either. It was almost as if men were playing against children.

“We didn’t get access in the first half and gave Liverpool the first two goals,” said Guardiola. “After that it was very difficult for us to build up pressure because Liverpool defended very well.”

The Klopp team didn’t have to try very hard because City couldn’t think of anything in the offensive game. The quick goal after the break gave the Citizens hope, but Liverpool quickly got the game back under control.

“We played incredibly well over long stretches,” said Klopp. “City has so much quality, but we’re not that bad either. That wasn’t a statement win, we just wanted to get into the final.”

The Reds have themselves to blame for the fact that things got exciting at the back. As in the Champions League against Benfica, Liverpool did not consistently finish the game. A 3:3 followed by extra time would have been – with all due respect – a joke.

2.) Thiago, my love

All Bayern fans who opted for the FA Cup cracker instead of the Bundesliga conference (without Bayern) must have had their hearts bled.

Her former favorite Thiago Alcántara, whom Munich transferred to the island in 2020 for a fee of 30 million euros, made a very strong game – not only because of his ingenious preparatory work to Manés 3-0 when he first got the ball in the narrowest of spaces against two city -Defender claimed and then served Mané with a cream lob.

Whatever the Spaniard did – it worked. Thiago always found a solution with the ball in the center when the city players got too close to him. He shifted the game to the flanks with direct passes and won a large number of duels. His pass rate was 100 percent in the first half.

After the change, Thiago limited himself to managing the game as the control center and preventing possible counterattacks by the Skyblues through good anticipation.

The 31-year-old is now an integral part of Liverpool FC’s starting eleven and forms an outstanding trio in midfield with Naby Keita and Fabinho.

After a difficult first year, Thiago still has the chance of the big hit this season: The quadruple of League Cup (already won), FA Cup (in the final), Champions League (clear favorite against Villarreal in the semifinals) and championship (a point behind Man City).

3.) Pep rotates into ruin

Ederson is Man City’s clear number one. But in the FA and in the League Cup, substitute Zack Steffen is allowed to play. However, Guardiola was apparently not entirely comfortable before the game. At the press conference on Friday, the coach mentioned that he was not quite sure whether he would put Steffen or Ederson in goal.

“We have to see which players are fit. Steffen usually plays, but I’m still thinking about it,” said Guardiola.

The choice fell on Steffen – and Guardiola was wrong. The 0:2 is entirely down to the 27-year-old, who reacted much too hesitantly after a back pass and let the ball straddle the oncoming Mané.

Steffen’s unsuccessful action was compared on social networks to Ederson’s from last Sunday’s league game – with the subtle difference that City’s regular keeper was able to casually play the ball away from the goal line after a back pass.

“I had no other choice. We have a lot of injured players for too many games. We needed fresh legs badly and that’s why I chose this starting XI,” said Guardiola with a shrug.

But the second suit didn’t fit at all this time. All the more surprising is the fact that Guardiola only made his first (and only) change in the 83rd minute. Riyad Mahrez then also enlivened the offensive game. However, Guardiola missed four of his five exchange opportunities.

An absolute absurdity for ex-Liverpool player Danny Murphy. “I have a hard time seeing any logic behind it,” said Murphy in his capacity as an expert at the “BBC”: “If I have such a strong bank, why don’t I bring in three fresh players 20 minutes before the end? City was flat, everyone saw that. As a coach, I have to act.”

Guardiola didn’t and got the payoff in the form of a defeat in the FA Cup semifinals.

His counterpart had a happier hand. Klopp once again trusted Konaté in central defense and was rewarded again. As in both Champions League games against Benfica, Konaté entered the scorer list. Joel Matip will probably have to wait in line for the time being.