Mane off as 5-star Man City crush Liverpool

AFP, MANCHESTER: Liverpool's Sadio Mane was dismissed for a challenge that saw goalkeeper Ederson stretchered off as Manchester City destroyed their Premier League title rivals 5-0 on Saturday.

Brazilian Ederson was carried off in a neck brace after being caught in the face by Mane's foot as he raced out to head the ball away late in the first half and the Liverpool forward was shown a straight red card. City already led 1-0 through Sergio Aguero's opener at that point and braces from Gabriel Jesus and substitute Leroy Sane completed City's biggest win over Liverpool since March 1937.

With Liverpool having avoided defeat against their top-six rivals last season, it was the first time Jurgen Klopp's side had lost to one of their principal adversaries since a 1-0 loss at home to Manchester United in January 2016.

It meant Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain had a deja vu debut after coming on at half-time for Liverpool, having succumbed to a 4-0 defeat against his new club on his last appearance for Arsenal before the international break.

While Mane's dismissal was a key factor in the game's outcome, the emphatic nature of City's win suggests Pep Guardiola's second season as manager will yield a serious title challenge.

City are unbeaten in 12 league games, their best run under Guardiola, while Argentina striker Aguero is now the outright leading non-European goal-scorer in English top-flight history with 124 goals.

It took City 24 minutes to unpick the visitors' back four as Kevin De Bruyne's delicately weighted through-ball freed Aguero to skip past Simon Mignolet and score for the sixth successive home game against Liverpool.

Mane off as 5-star Man City crush Liverpool

AFP, MANCHESTER: Liverpools Sadio Mane was dismissed for a challenge that saw goalkeeper Ederson stretchered off as Manchester City destroyed their Premier League title rivals 5-0 on Saturday. Brazilian Ederson was carried off in a neck brace after being caught in the face by Manes foot as he raced out to head the ball away late in the first half and the Liverpool forward was shown a straight red card. City already led 1-0 through Sergio Agueros opener at that point and braces from Gabriel Jesus and substitute Leroy Sane completed Citys biggest win over Liverpool since March 1937. With Liverpool having avoided defeat against their top-six rivals last season, it was the first time Jurgen Klopps side had lost to one of their principal adversaries since a 1-0 loss at home to Manchester United in January 2016. It meant Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain had a deja vu debut after coming on at half-time for Liverpool, having succumbed to a 4-0 defeat against his new club on his last appearance for Arsenal before the international break. While Manes dismissal was a key factor in the games outcome, the emphatic nature of Citys win suggests Pep Guardiolas second season as manager will yield a serious title challenge. City are unbeaten in 12 league games, their best run under Guardiola, while Argentina striker Aguero is now the outright leading non-European goal-scorer in English top-flight history with 124 goals. It took City 24 minutes to unpick the visitors back four as Kevin De Bruynes delicately weighted through-ball freed Aguero to skip past Simon Mignolet and score for the sixth successive home game against Liverpool.