No Haaland, no problem as Man City thrash Liverpool 4-1

Manchester City showed they can win without goal machine Erling Haaland as they put four goals past Liverpool at the Etihad on Saturday to keep their chase of Premier League leaders Arsenal very much alive.

Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish were all on target for Pep Guardiola’s side in an entertaining return to Premier League action after the international break.

The victory pulled City to within five points of the Gunners, who play Leeds United later on Saturday.

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring early for Juergen Klopp’s side, who are sixth in the top flight and fighting for a Champions League berth, before City took ever more complete control of the match as time went on.

Haaland, who has scored 42 goals in 37 matches in all competitions since joining City this season from Borussia Dortmund, suffered a groin injury against Burnley on March 18.