Klopp bemoans his 'passive' Liverpool side in 4-1 defeat to Manchester City

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said his side allowed Manchester City to ldquodo what they wantedrdquo as the Reds were thrashed 14 at the Etihad on SaturdayCity did not miss the injured Erling Haaland as goals from Julian Alvarez Kevin De Bruyne Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish moved the defending champions back to within five points of Arsenal at the top of the tableCity and Liverpool have finished as the top two in four of the past five Premier League seasons but Liverpoolrsquos humiliation in the closing stages summed up a dreadful season for Klopprsquos menJurgen KloppA chastening defeat leaves them still seven points adrift of the top four ldquoWe were not there anymore We were completely open too passive too deeprdquo said Klopp of his sidersquos second half performanceldquoAgainst City 14 or 15 players need to be on top of their game After being 31 down itrsquos difficult but apart from that City could do what they wanted because the spaces were too big We were lucky they only scored one morerdquoInjured Haaland in standsA groin injury meant Haaland was watching on from the stands alongside his father and former City midfielder Alfie Haaland But City shrugged off the absence of their 42goal striker as Alvarez stepped up with a rare chance to start and Grealish produced arguably his best performance since joining the club for a Premier League record pound100 million in 2021ldquoFrom the first minute until the 93rd minute it was almost the perfect performancerdquo said GuardiolaldquoAlways we have fought against Liverpool The way they defend the way they play is so difficult for us but today the players were magnificentrdquoAlso Read Liverpool found feet in time for Real Madrid feels Jurgen KloppCity were forced to come from behind after Diogo Jota broke the offside trap before teeing up Mohamed Salah to slot home his 23rd goal of the season The lead lasted just 10 minutes as the home side showed their quality even shorn of Haaland De Bruyne Riyad Mahrez and Grealish combined to open up the Liverpool defence and Alvarez was left with the simple task of slotting in his 13th goal of the season despite spending most of the campaign as Haalandrsquos deputyJesus nets for ArsenalMeanwhile Arsenal quickly reestablished their eightpoint lead at the top of EPL as Gabriel Jesus scored twice in Gunners 41 win over Leeds Ben White doubled Arsenalrsquos advantage early in the second half Rasmus Kristensen got one back for Leeds but Granit Xhakarsquos late header capped yet another ruthless Arsenal performanceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever