Manchester City moved five points clear atop of the Premier League after beating Liverpool 4-1 on Sunday and Ilkay Gundogan was one of many players praised for his performance at Anfield – no Man City player had more shots over the 90 minutes.
The £36m-rated 30-year-old bagged a brace and could have had a hattrick if not for a missed first-half penalty. His first goal was a close-range tap in, reacting fast after Alisson saved Phil Foden’s initial effort. Gundogan’s second goal was another tap-in, finishing from close range after a magnificent Phil Foden solo run.
Where will Manchester City finish this season?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
https://twitter.com/ChuksNero10/status/1358483728775995392?s=20
Illkay Gundogan has been amazing. I was worried about KDB being injured.
— .17 (@MirthCity) February 7, 2021
Guardiola got his tactics spot on by playing without a striker with Foden as a false 9. Gundogan with insane as always, Bernardo Silva off the right was amazing, and the team was completely composed as a whole. 1st place and you love to see it #THEPREMISBLUE
— Julio 〽️ (@JulioMarSports) February 7, 2021
https://twitter.com/tourheer/status/1358492544557015040?s=20
https://twitter.com/GerraDeegan/status/1358482504953573378?s=20
Kroos, Kimmich & Gündogan having a fantastic season up to this point.
— Pep van Cruyff (@PepvanCruyff) February 7, 2021
Fantastic performance and result. Everyone playing their part. Gundogan excellent (pen apart), Foden genius. Shout out for Zinchenko, who I thought played really well. Blue Moon, 💙
— Mark Francis (@mark_franny) February 7, 2021
Ilkay Gundogan has been incredible doing the work De Bruyne usually does. The midfield running, the little flicks, the sprayed passes to Zinny and Mahrez to relieve pressure. He’s been fantastic and deserves a ton of credit.
— PressResistant (@Method_MCFC) February 7, 2021
Against Liverpool, Gundogan had 73 touches, completed 86.2% of his 58 passes, had three shots with two amounting to goals, made one tackle, gave away one foul, made two interceptions and had one successful dribble. The German international’s brace against Liverpool took this season’s total to 11 goals from 24 games – his best return.
City didn’t have a recognised striker to begin with against Liverpool, but Gundogan is one of many players to step up in the absence of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus from the starting XI. Next up for City is a trip to face Swansea City in the FA Cup on Wednesday.
In other news, some fans laud Man City’s ‘brilliant’ 5ft 6in man after their win over Liverpool