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Defending champions Manchester City decisively defeated Liverpool 3-1 on Monday evening at the Etihad Stadium. It was a rainy evening in Manchester for a match between the teams that finished 1-2 in the Barclays Premier League table last year. New signing Mario Balotelli was not available for the visitors as his transfer was only just finalized, but he was in the stands looking especially miserable in the rain throughout the match. Liverpool was searching its first Barclays Premier League win at Manchester City since 2008 but it was not meant to be on this evening.
In the beginning of the match, City went on the offensive and dominated possession, forcing Liverpool to go on the counterattack. Raheem Sterling was especially effective for Liverpool on the flanks, constantly looking a threat on goal through his tremendous pace. Throughout the first half it looked as though either team could snatch the first goal of the match.
Stefan Jovetic opened the scoring in the 41st minute for City following a failed clearance from the Liverpool defense. He added another one in the 55th minute by converting a pass from Samuel Nasri. The goal was not an easy conversion for Jovetic, but he was able to finish with his outside foot for a particularly clinical finish. Sergio Agüero came on for an injured Eden Dzeko in the 69th minute and completed the scoring for City after being on the pitch for only 23 seconds.
It appeared that Liverpool's Rickie Lambert scored his first goal for his new club in the 83rd minute, but it was later ruled an own goal by City defender Pablo Zabaleta. There also was a rash of injuries for Liverpool at the end of the match, as right back Glen Johnson had to come off the pitch due to injury - and because the Reds had already used all of their substitutes, they had to play the rest of the match with 10 men. Later, defenders Alberto Moreno and Martin Skrtel also picked up knocks, which marked an especially cruel way for the match to end for Liverpool.
Man of the Match: Stefan Jovetic. His two goals were both impressive and he came up big for City in a statement-making match. The depth of the squad that City possesses is simply breathtaking and they have made an early-season statement to the rest of the title contenders: the defending champions will not go away quietly.
Follow Mike Smith on Twitter @thefootiegent
Manchester City makes him nervous. Very nervous.
