Manchester City on Saturday slammed league winners Liverpool 3-0 at Etihad stadium.

Pep Guardiola celebrated his 1,000th game as a manager with a convincing win over an old rival as Manchester City overpowered Liverpool.

Typically Erling Haaland was on the scoresheet, opening the scoring for a dominant City side at the Etihad Stadium with his 99th Premier League goal after missing an earlier penalty.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk had an equaliser controversially disallowed, but the champions were second best for much of a sodden afternoon and fell further behind to a deflected Nico González strike before the break.

The outstanding Jérémy Doku, who tormented Liverpool right-back Conor Bradley, added a sublime third on his 100th appearance for the club.

Victory lifted City back up to second in the table and within four points of leaders Arsenal, and condemned Liverpool to yet more soul-searching.

Arne Slot’s side had emerged from a recent slump with impressive back-to-back wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid, but the defeat was their fifth in six league games and left them eight points adrift of the Gunners.

Arsenal dropped points on Saturday and City seemed hungry to take advantage while Liverpool, who could also have gone second with a win, failed to get out of the blocks.

Bradley may have dealt well with Vinícius Júnior in midweek but he was given a torrid time on this occasion by Doku.

The Belgian winger was electric and almost slid Phil Foden in on goal early on.

Doku was the main player in the game’s major talking point after nine minutes when he burst past two defenders and went down following a challenge by Giorgi Mamardashvili.

No penalty was given initially and replays suggested contact was minimal, but referee Chris Kavanagh reversed his decision after being summoned to the VAR screen.

Liverpool may have felt justice was served as Mamardashvili pushed away Haaland’s spot-kick, but the reprieve did not last long.

After Doku had created further chances for Rayan Cherki and himself, Matheus Nunes whipped in a cross from the right in the 29th minute. Haaland leapt above a static Ibrahima Konaté and headed firmly past Mamardashvili who, unlike for the spot-kick, was rooted to the spot.

Liverpool thought they had levelled when Van Dijk planted a header inside the post from a corner, but his effort was ruled out for an offside against Andrew Robertson on the line.

The Reds’ frustrations were compounded in first-half stoppage time as Gonzalez’s long-range strike took a deflection off Van Dijk and wrong-footed Mamardashvili.

Aston Villa increased their goal tally for the season to 13 as they finally found rhythm to thrash Bournemouth 4-0 at Villa Park and leapfrog their visitors into seventh place in the Premier League.

Bournemouth lost captain Adam Smith to a head injury in the opening minutes after an accidental collision with team-mate Tyler Adams and never found their rhythm following that early adjustment, with Villa turning their first-half dominance into a lead through Emi Buendia’s superb free-kick.

Minutes before the break Amadou Onana opened his account for the season with a crisp strike to beat Djordje Petrovic.

Villa appeared in cruise control but Bournemouth improved after the break, Evanilson hitting a post from a corner before the visitors’ threw away a huge comeback opportunity from the penalty spot.

Morgan Rogers’ inadvertent handball was spotted by referee John Brooks but after a robust debate with Marcus Tavernier, Antoine Semenyo put the ball down before he was denied by an excellent Emi Martinez save from 12 yards.

That sprung Villa back into life and substitute Ross Barkley rubbed salt into the Cherries’ wounds when he glanced home a corner moments after coming on to seal victory, before Donyell Malen added a fortuitous fourth late on when he deflected in Youri Tielemans’ long-range effort.

Villa’s fifth win from six lifted them two points off second-placed Chelsea, while a second successive defeat drops Bournemouth from third at the start of last weekend to ninth.

Nigeria U-20 Women’s national team, the Falconet began their U-20 WAFU-B Girls Cup campaign on Saturday in Benin on a bright note, defeating Ghana’s Black Princesses 3-1.

Head coach Moses Aduku named a strong starting XI, with Taiwo Afolabi returning to the squad after featuring for the Super Falcons in recent World Cup qualifiers.

Janet Akekoromowei and Precious Oscar also earned starting roles, while captain Joy Igbokwe led the team from midfield.

The opening half lived up to the billing of a fierce West African derby, with both sides battling for control in the middle of the park.

Nigeria, however, broke the deadlock in the 37th minute after a Ghanaian defender handled the ball inside the area.

Akekoromowei made no mistake from the spot, sending goalkeeper Grace Andoh the wrong way to hand the Falconets a deserved lead.

On resumption of the second half, Akekoromowei struck again in the 46th minute showing great composure to lift a clever lob over Andoh pouncing on a loose ball in the Ghanaian box.

Ghana halved the deficit just four minutes into the second half through Sarah Nyarko , who finished from close range to restore hope for the Black Princesses 2-1.

The Ghanaians pressed for an equaliser, but Nigeria’s backline remained resolute, frustrating their opponents with disciplined defending.

The Falconets sealed the win two minutes from time when Favour Chiamaka in-swinging corner sailed over Andoh into the net, restoring Nigeria’s two-goal advantage.

With the 3-1 victory, Nigeria top Group A and will next face hosts Benin Republic on Sunday and later meet Ghana on Tuesday by 10.a.m

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN ) reports that the 2025 WAFU Zone B Under-20 Girls’ Cup started on Friday will end on Wednesday with just three participating nations -Nigeria, Ghana, and hosts Benin Republic.

The WAFU B U-20 Girls’ Cup serves as a crucial developmental platform for identifying new talents and preparing national squads for upcoming CAF and FIFA youth competitions.