Wijnaldum winner left City frustrated


Liverpool capped a progressive 2016 under Jurgen Klopp with a 1-0 victory over Manchester City and reduced the gap to Premier League leaders Chelsea back to six points.

Georginio Wijnaldum's eighth-minute header proved to be the difference as Klopp's men responded to Chelsea's 4-2 win over Stoke on Saturday afternoon.

This was Liverpool's fourth win in a row and means they are now unbeaten in their last 17 Premier League home games (W11 D6).

Meanwhile, the defeat leaves City, who failed to test Simon Mignolet with any meaningful efforts, 10 points behind Chelsea in the title race and just three ahead of rivals Manchester United.

Sergio Aguero was back in the Manchester City team for the first time since picking up a four-game ban against Chelsea, while Klopp decided to give Divock Origi a rest and bring in Emre Can to give Liverpool more steel in midfield.

That tactical switch worked well in the early stages with City being crowded out from finding David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne. Despite dominating the ball, the visitors looked vulnerable to Liverpool's high press and it reaped maximum reward on eight minutes.

Wijnaldum won the ball deep inside his own half and sparked the hosts into action on the counter. They worked the ball to the left wing where Adam Lallana pinged a cross straight onto the head of Wijnaldum, who powered the ball into the bottom corner.

Liverpool have not lost a Premier League home game when leading at half-time since December 2009, but City gave it a good go of ending that run in the early stages of the half.

They went 45 minutes without registering a shot on target but Aguero signalled their intention early on with a low drive, forcing Mignolet to divert the ball away on 52 minutes.

Guardiola's side began to look menacing with Silva at the heart of their attacking play, the Spanish playmaker curling an effort inches wide on 56 minutes.

However, that was as good as it got for City, whose attacking impetus fizzled out as the half wore on.

Liverpool saw the match out comfortably and Klopp celebrated with a roar of appreciation towards the Kop.

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