City v. Liverpool: Player Ratings

Player Ratings

Joe Hart 5.5

Joe Hart responded well to shots from Liverpool, for the most part. He had a good save on Sterling near the end of the first half. He had little to do on both Henderson's and Coutinho's wonder goals.

Aleksandar Kolarov 5

His contributions came mostly in the form of attacks. He was not as involved in the match in defense as most of the attacks came in Zabaleta's direction. Even in the attack he was subpar, and his defensive performance, like the rest of the defense, was poor.

Eliaquim Mangala 5

Though City's defense was subpar as a whole, Mangala played decently in comparison to his defensive teammates. He was not often caught out of position and was able to clear out the ball and somewhat contain the Liverpool attacks that were constantly coming his way.

Vincent Kompany 4

A very uninspiring and unconvincing display by City's Belgian captain. His clearances were shocking and was caught out of position often. This bad positioning, coupled with bad dribbling, is what began the attack for Jordan Henderson's early goal, putting Liverpool up 1-0.

Pablo Zabaleta 4.5

Zabaleta had a very difficult match. He was largely unable to control both Raheem Sterling and Phillippe Coutinho and this led to Liverpool playing much of their attack on their left hand side, with Zabaleta rarely winning out. Though Zabaleta had a decent game in the second half, capping in a few passes, his defensive woes opened the door for Liverpool's threat at Joe Hart, which eventually culminated in a Coutinho goal coming from his side.

Fernandinho 5

Fernandinho played decently, but was unable to anchor much influence like his midfield partner, Yaya Toure. His passing was not on point, and his performance in the second half helped Liverpool's attack become more and more stronger.

Yaya Touré 6

Played a very influential part in the midfield in the first half, but was unable to replicate that form in the second half. The second half for him was marred by inaccurate passes and getting caught in possession. This helped ignite Liverpool's attack in the second half.

David Silva 6

He had a very light influence on the match as it transgressed. He played well in the first half, as he was able to carve out some good passes to Nasri, Agüero and Džeko, but his influence was largely gone in the second half. He perhaps cost the game for the Sky Blues, as he wasted set pieces and opportunities at goal.

Samir Nasri 6

Put in some good passes in the final third, but his contribution was quite limited by an organized Liverpool. Like most of the team, his performance went down in the second half as the attack began to fade away.

Sergio Agüero 7.5

His typical tireless display of football was present today at Anfield. He played across the left, right and middle of the park as he was constantly looking to play the pass to Silva or Nasri for a cross. He played the magnificent pass to Džeko for the goal that equalized the match, but was just short of the definitive draw for City. He was also, however, quite synonymous to the offside, which hindered his chances at goal.

Edin Džeko 6.5

He was a threat in the attack for City in the 57 minutes he was on the pitch. He was the lone scorer for City, and put in a good display up front as he was constantly looking for passes and for good crosses, but did not receive too many.

Substitutes:

James Milner (in for Džeko in minute 57) 5.5

Came in to add a kick in the midfield, but his influence was not as bright as it has been during the season. His contributions were minimal and given that he came on for Džeko, this substitution really hindered City's attack.

Wilfried Bony (in for Fernandinho in minute 78) 5

Only actual contribution to the match was a yellow card he picked up for a late challenge on Adam Lallana.

Frank Lampard (in for Nasri in minute 82) NA

Entered the match with only 8 minutes left, not a substantial influence on the match by any stretch of the imagination.