21 November 2015
Manchester City 1-4 Liverpool
Manchester City missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League, succumbing to a 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
City were blown away by a stunning first-half performance from Klopp’s side which saw the Reds enter the break with an impressive 3-1 lead following clinical strikes from Brazilians Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino and Eliaquim Mangala’s own goal.
Though Sergio Aguero’s smart finish gave the home side hope, the Blues were let down by sloppy defending throughout and would concede a fourth nine minutes from time as Martin Skrtel thundered home to cap off a superb away win for Liverpool to add to their recent away triumph against Chelsea.
Manuel Pellegrini will now be looking for a quick turnaround from his charges who travel to Turin to face Juventus for Wednesday’s Champions League Group D top of the table clash.
Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 Hannover
Andre Schubert's first game since being made head coach on a permanent basis ended with a 2-1 victory against Hannover on Saturday afternoon at Borussia-Park.
Ibrahima Traore put the Foals in front after 35 minutes following brilliant build-up play by fellow midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud.
Down the other end of the pitch, Kenan Karaman forced Yann Sommer into a smart save moments before half-time to ensure that the hosts took a slender lead into the break.
Artur Sobiech drew the visitors level midway through the second period, but Gladbach were intent on taking all three points and eventually managed to do just that when Raffael tucked past Ron-Robert Zieler late on.
The victory moves the Foals up to fourth in the Bundesliga, temporarily overtaking Hertha Berlin who entertain Hoffenheim on Sunday.
Real Sociedad 2-0 Sevilla
Unai Emery’s Sevilla slipped to a second defeat in three league outings as they were beaten 2-0 by managerless Real Sociedad at the Anoeta Stadium.
Having crafted the game’s most presentable chances throughout the first half with Kevin Gameiro’s strike disallowed for offside and Jose Antonio Reyes curling narrowly over the top from the edge of the box, Sevilla will consider themselves unlucky to have returned to the south of Spain with nothing.
The Andalusians continued to look the more menacing of the two teams after the break and should have taken the lead through Gameiro as the Frenchman saw his point-blank volley excellently saved by Sociedad stopper Geronimo Rulli.
Emery’s men were made to pay for their profligacy moments later, Imanol Agirretxe volleying home on 73 minutes after a defensive mix-up in the visitors’ penalty area.
One soon became two for the Basque club as Sevilla midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak’s sloppy header set up Xabi Prieto to rifle home and wrap up the win for the home side, their third in ten league outings.
The Blanquirrojos will need to dust themselves down quickly and return to winning ways on Wednesday night against Borussia Monchengladbach if they are to keep their diminishing Champions League last 16 qualification hopes alive.
