Liverpool cruise past Manchester City to take a step closer towards the Premier League title

Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool to a crucial win against Manchester City last night (Image credits - FMT, License Details

Liverpool FC grabbed all 3 points against Manchester City last night at the Etihad Stadium, beating them by a scoreline of 2-0 to go 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League points table. 

Arne Slot’s dynamic game plan, along with Liverpool's man on fire, Mohamed Salah, was too much to handle for Pep Guardiola and his men, as the Spaniard suffered his first home defeat in the Premier League to the Reds. 

Mo Salah’s opener from a brilliantly worked corner routine gave the visitors the perfect start to the game. 

The 32-year-old then combined with Trent Alexander-Arnold just a few minutes later to set up Dominik Szoboszlai for their second and final goal of the night, sealing the deal for Liverpool. 

Arne Slot's team selection and dynamic game plan surprised Manchester City

Liverpool's initial XI against City last night did widen some eyes as the Reds' boss decided to field a starting XI without a No. 9. 

With Cody Gakpo still nursing an ankle injury, due to which he wasn't handed a place in the starting lineup, Arne Slot decided not to hand starts even to Diogo Jota and Darwin Núñez, the other strikers available in the Dutch manager's squad.

Instead, Slot decided to play Dominik Szoboszlai as a false 9, which allowed more dynamism in Liverpool's game style, allowing them to open up the gaps in the Manchester City defence more effectively. 

Szoboszlai's free movements, mainly in central regions and on the right-hand side on several occasions, allowed Salah and Diaz to make central runs on many occasions, while also providing them with an extra man to pick out at the edge of the box.

Dominik Szoboszlai's major touchpoints on the pitch last night.

Liverpool's second goal was a clear example of this, where Salah was able to find the Hungarian at the edge of the box, who slotted the ball past Ederson in stunning fashion to give a two-goal advantage to the Reds right before the half-time mark.

Mohamed Salah’s record-breaking season with Liverpool keeps getting better with every passing game

Liverpool's No. 11 scored his 30th goal of the season while also providing his 20th assist, taking his total tally of goals and assists to a staggering 50 in the current campaign so far, for the second time in his illustrious career. 

With his 25th goal and 16th assist in the Premier League this season, Salah has now become the only player in the history of English football to have two 40+ goal involvements in a single Premier League campaign.

On top of that, as per SofaScore, Mo Salah has now scored and assisted in the same for a record-breaking 11th time this season, a feat which was last achieved only by Lionel Messi in 2016.