Cherki shines at Anfield, Barcola's drought deepens with Liverpool

Manchester City inflicted a resounding 3-0 defeat on Liverpool at their own Anfield ground on Sunday, in a Premier League clash that highlighted two radically opposite trajectories for French internationals Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki.

The match remained stalled for long periods before swinging in the second half. Rayan Gravenberch’s red card for a second stupid yellow (62’) opened the door for the Manchester side. Shortly after, a deflected shot from Jérémy Doku allowed Erling Haaland to open the scoring (65’), before the Belgian doubled his tally with a curling strike (68’).

It was then Rayan Cherki who delivered the knockout blow with the third goal. Following a combination deep in the box, the former Lyon player beat Jeremie Frimpong with a devastating cut before slipping the ball beyond Alisson Becker’s reach (78’). A high-quality finish from a player already credited with two goals before the international break, and with one goal and two assists in four caps for France under Zinédine Zidane.

On the other side of the pitch, Bradley Barcola endured a far less glittering evening. The left winger signed for €125 million never managed to make an impact on Liverpool’s play: his dribbling attempt against Matheus Nunes in the first half (26’) was even widely mocked on social media. Six matches after his arrival at Liverpool, Barcola has yet to score a single goal or provide a single assist. Questions are beginning to be seriously raised about his adaptation to the physical intensity of the Premier League.