Final, 3-1 Manchester City: It’s over at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City defeats Liverpool and takes all three points from this early season clash of titans.
Jovetic’s double and Aguero’s lighting-quick strike put the game out of Liverpool’s reach after 69 minutes. The consolation goal Zabaleta scored on the Reds’ behalf will provide little comfort for the visitors.
Liverpool played well for long stretches of the game — particularly in the first half — but lost focus at crucial moments, allowing a ruthlessly clinical Manchester City to capitalize each time.
It’s likely that these teams will battle for position, both directly and indirectly, throughout the season, and Manchester City has taken an early advantage with the win.
Johnson left the game with an apparent groin injury. Skrtel and Moreno hobbled through the final minutes. Liverpool will try to recover from these physical and psychological wounds, regroup and take on Tottenham on Sunday.
That’s all for now, and thanks for joining us. Let’s discuss this one on Twitter @NESNsoccer and Facebook. Be sure to keep an eye out for some news, fan reactions, analysis and opinion that is on the way on NESN.com.
90th minute +4, 3-1 Manchester City: Aguero rifles a shot into the side netting.
90th minute, 3-1 Manchester City: Moreno is hurt with an apparent non-contact injury. The Liverpool fullback turned his ankle as he was planting his foot near the sideline.
88th minute, 3-1 Manchester City: Now Skrtel is receiving treatment. Toure fouled Skrtel off the ball, but the referee declined to punish the Ivorian.
85th minute, 3-1 Manchester City: Liverpool nearly scores another one, as Lambert creates more danger.
Johnson now is down with an injury. Liverpool has used all of its substitutions, so it will play the rest of the game with 10 men.
83rd minute, 3-1 Manchester City: Zabaleta scores an own goal, and Liverpool reduces the deficit.
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Sturridge crossed to the far post from the right side of the penalty area. Lambert darted in, headed the ball down, and Zabaleta arrived and kneed it past Hart, who then batted the ball away, but the goal decision system confirmed that it had crossed the line.
80th minute, 3-0 Manchester City: Pellegrini counters with his final change. Fernandinho replaces the goal-scoring hero Jovetic.
79th minute, 3-0 Manchester City: Liverpool makes its final substitution, replacing Sterling with Lambert.
76th minute, 3-0 Manchester City: Can is cautioned — less than a minute after coming onto the field — for a foul on Jovetic.
75th minute, 3-0 Manchester City: Liverpool makes another substitution, replacing Allen with Can, who also is making his debut.
69th minute, 3-0 Manchester City: Aguero scores 23 seconds after entering the game.
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Navas created the chance with a long pass into the Liverpool penalty area. Aguero ran onto it and slotted his shot past Mignolet.
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69th minute, 2-0 Manchester City: Aguero comes on for Dzeko, as Manchester City makes another change.
67th minute, 2-0 Manchester City: Dzeko is down on the field receiving treatment on his leg.
65th minute, 2-0 Manchester City: With a two-goal lead, Manchester City makes a substitution. Navas replaces Silva.
65th minute, 2-0 Manchester City: Liverpool has looked positive since Jovetic scored his second. Sturridge nearly cuts into the lead, but his powerful shot (from an impossible angle) misses the target.
60th minute, 2-0 Manchester City: Markovic is coming on for Coutinho. It’s the Serbian winger’s Liverpool debut.
59th minute, 2-0 Manchester City: Jovetic could have made it a hat-trick, but he misses the target from close range.
55th minute, 2-0 Manchester City: Jovetic doubles his goal tally and Manchester City’s lead.
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It was the result of a lengthy exchange of passes on the right, which opened up Liverpool’s defense. Nasri burst forward and found the trailing run of Jovetic, who beat Mignolet with a powerful shot.
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53rd minute, 1-0 Manchester City: Liverpool continues to pin the hosts deep inside their own half, but the defense holds, and the Reds are still searching for the game-tying goal.
49th minute, 1-0 Manchester City: Sturridge appeared to score, but the goal was disallowed because the Liverpool striker was offside — only slightly.
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46th minute, 1-0 Manchester City: The second half is underway.
Neither team made any substitutions at halftime.
Halftime, 1-0 Manchester City: That’s the end of the first half. Liverpool is down by one.
Liverpool played well enough to feel like it doesn’t deserve the halftime deficit. The Reds were organized and confident throughout, but they weren’t clinical in the final third. On balance, Liverpool was probably the better team in the first 45 minutes, but it finds itself trailing at the break.
One defensive hiccup proved costly, as Lovren and Moreno — two of Rodgers’ marquee defensive reinforcements — failed to clear the ball from danger. Jovetic then made Liverpool pay.
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44th minute, 1-0 Manchester City: The home team almost always scores at the Etihad Stadium.
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41st minute, 1-0 Manchester City: Jovetic strikes first for Manchester City.
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It came from a throw-in, which Liverpool failed to clear. Moreno then tried to boot it out, but Jovetic sneaked in behind him, stole the ball and blasted it through Mignolet’s legs.
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39th minute, 0-0: Liverpool’s share of possession is increasing  with the passage of time. The Reds are stringing passes together inside Manchester City’s half, but they’re failing to turn it into clear scoring chances because the final pass hasn’t been good enough to unlock the defense.
33rd minute, 0-0: Liverpool is putting Manchester City under intense pressure, and Sturridge tries to break the deadlock by dribbling around Kompany and shooting from a tight angle, forcing Hart to make the save at his near post.
29th minute, 0-0: Toure is cautioned for a foul on Coutinho.
27th minute, 0-0: There’s little difference between the teams at this point. The score is even, as is the balance of play.
Liverpool has created some danger by attacking the space behind Manchester City’s fullbacks, but Kompany and Demichelis have eliminated the threat before Sturridge or another Liverpool attacker gains possession in the penalty area.
19th minute, 0-0: After a slow start, the tempo of the game is increasing, as Liverpool starts to show more attacking ambition.
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15th minute, 0-0: Toure powerfully curls a shot on goal from 30 yards out. Mignolet dives to his left and collects it comfortably.
13th minute, 0-0: Zabaleta volleys a shot well over the bar after Clichy floated a cross from the left all the way to the far post.
Ninth minute, 0-0: Gerrard finds Sterling in the Manchester City penalty area with a perfectly lofted pass from the midfield. With his back to goal, Sterling controls it and shoots wide in an acrobatic effort.
Eighth minute, 0-0: Dzeko rolls a long-range shot wide of Mignolet’s goal. Nearly 10 minutes have passed, and it was the first shot of the game.
Fifth minute, 0-0: Manchester City has controlled possession early on but the host hasn’t caused Liverpool any problem, despite spending much of the opening stage in the Reds’ half.
First minute, 0-0: The Premier League game between Manchester City and Liverpool is underway at the Etihad Stadium.
Pregame: As expected, the teams are relatively settled. Liverpool and Manchester City won their Premier League openers last weekend, and both managers merely tweaked their lineups.
For Liverpool, Allen comes into the midfield, replacing Lucas. Moreno slots in at left back, and Johnson moves to the right. Manquillo drops to the bench.
The game likely will be decided in the wide areas of the field. Both sets of fullbacks like to join the attack, which leaves space behind them for the opposition to exploit.
Moreno makes his Liverpool debut in this daunting game. Manchester City wingers Silva and Nasri will put the £12 million ($20.2 million) summer signing to the test. Silva and Nasri line up as wide players, but they often drift into the center where they like to operate. Communication will be key to stopping them, and Moreno must be in tune with his fellow defenders.
Conversely, Sterling and Coutinho can pose the most danger from out wide. If Liverpool catches Manchester City’s fullbacks forward when it wins the ball, it can spring counterattacks through Sterling and Coutinho — especially if Clichy and Zabaleta are out of position.
2:30 p.m.: Here are the lineups:
Liverpool
Simon Mignolet (22), goalkeeper
Alberto Moreno (18), left back
Martin Skrtel (37), center back
Dejan Lovren (6), center back
Glen Johnson (2), right back
Steven Gerrard (8), midfielder
Joe Allen (24), midfielder
Jordan Henderson (14), midfielder
Raheem Sterling (31), forward
Philippe Coutinho (10), forward
Daniel Sturridge (15), striker
Substitutes
Brad Jones (1), goalkeeper
Kolo Toure (4), defender
Mamadou Sakho (17), defender
Javier Manquillo (19), defender
Emre Can (23), midfielder
Lazar Markovic (50), forward
Rickie Lambert (9), striker
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Manchester City
Joe Hart (1), goalkeeper
Gael Clichy (22), left back
Vincent Kompany (4), center back
Martin Demichelis (26), center back
Pablo Zabaleta (5), right back
Fernando (6), midfielder
Yaya Toure (42), midfielder
Samir Nasri (8), midfielder
David Silva (21), midfielder
Steven Jovetic (35), forward
Edin Dzeko (10), striker
Substitutes
Willy Caballero (13), goalkeeper
Bacary Sagna (3), defender
Aleksander Kolarov (11), defender
Fernandinho (25), midfielder
James Milner (7), midfielder
Jesus Navas (15), midfielder
Sergio Aguero (16), striker
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Noon ET: On Monday, Liverpool and Manchester City will meet for the second time in less than a month. However, the stakes are much higher this time than they were in the last encounter.
Liverpool visits Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the teams’ second Premier League game of the 2014-15 campaign. Manchester City, last season’s Premier League champion, and Liverpool, the runner-up in 2013-14, are looking to make a statement of intent in this latest game between two of this season’s presumed title challengers.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers expects the game to be tightly contested but also open and entertaining.
“I think the nature of both teams is the offensive game, but of course they’re normally tight games,” Rodgers said, according to the London Evening Standard. “If you look at both sets of players, there’s lots of invention and creativity in the team. I think both will be creative and want to score goals.
“We know we need to be compact and solid when we haven’t got the ball, and we need to be aggressive and press well. We know we have the freedom, movement and pace that can hurt teams. We understand it’s early on, but it’ll be a good game for sure.”
The teams are fit, and there are no major injury doubts to report. Two of Liverpool’s newest signings, left back Alberto Moreno and winger Lazar Markovic, could make their debuts on Monday.
Mario Balotelli, who officially joined Liverpool on Monday, will not play against his former club.
Liverpool-Manchester City kicks off at 3 p.m. ET. Stay right here for all the action from the Etihad Stadium.
