.png)
Featured Image Credit: Image: Sky Sports
Topics: Joao Cancelo, Manchester City, Premier League, Mohamed Salah
Josh Lawless
Topics: Joao Cancelo, Manchester City, Premier League, Mohamed Salah
Joao Cancelo held his hands up after Manchester City's first defeat of the season at the hands of Liverpool.
Mo Salah scored the winner in the 76th minute but it was a Cancelo mistake that allowed the Egyptian to race towards goal and fire past Ederson.
From an Alisson Becker kick up the pitch, the Portugal international got caught under the ball and was rolled by Salah.
Advert
The first touch from Salah was exquisite but it was naive defending from Cancelo, who was City's last man after they had everyone up for a free-kick.
The former Juventus man wasn't at his best for City against Liverpool but took responsibility for his error. At the end of the game, cameras spotted Cancelo patting his chest and mouthing, "My fault".
Phil Foden, who had a goal disallowed in the 53rd minute, came over and consoled his teammate by embracing him and whispering words of encouragement in his ear.
Manager Pep Guardiola dropped to his knees as soon as Salah got in one-behind and explained how the goal came about post-match.
Advert
"We conceded a goal because of a mistake, and we didn’t follow the transition," Guardiola said.
"Alisson plays it out quick, Kevin didn’t follow, and Joao lost the duel - it is always so difficult against Salah with the way he uses his body. This is something we have to learn for future tight games against Liverpool, but the way we played, the performance and the courage we played with was fantastic.”
Advert
On Sky Sports, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said Cancelo's attempt to win the ball was "schoolboy defending".
Meanwhile Jamie Carragher compared Cancelo to Trent Alexander-Arnold, claiming he is "not a good defender".
"Cancelo is like Trent, he’s not a good defender, Trent isn’t," the Liverpool legend stated.
"The reason why we’re being more critical is because he’s being exposed more. He’s not all of a sudden became a worse defender and it’s the same with Cancelo, if he had less protection, you’d see that more often."
Advert
City thought they had gone 1-0 up in the 53rd minute but Foden's strike was chalked off by VAR after it was ruled Erling Haaland had fouled Fabinho in the build-up.
A furious Guardiola riled up the home supporters and is said to have shouted "This is Anfield" on the touchline.
The City boss claimed he was struck by coins thrown by some Liverpool fans, while on the flipside the Reds issued a statement condemning "vile chants" from some City supporters.
Advert
City are in second and currently four points behind leaders Arsenal, who secured a narrow 1-0 win over Leeds United at Elland Road after an initial power cut.