10 March 2024 , 17:02
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A jubliant John Stones raced towards towards Manchester City's travelling supporters and jumped atop Anfield's advertising boards following his goal against Liverpool.
Players and supporters alike were filled with ecstasy after a smart set-piece from Kevin De Bruyne found his teammate to open the scoring in a pivotal Premier League clash. One point separated the sides heading into the game and three points would see either side top the table.
It was as significant a moment as it could be after 23 minutes, in a venue Pep Guardiola has never won with fans in attendance. While many got lost in the moment, the Catalan coach's joy was directed in a very specific direction.
Not that of Stones or De Bruyne but towards first team assistant coach Carlos Vicens. Guardiola pointed in his direction to suggest that rather than a spontaneous moment of inspiration from De Bruyne - whose delivery had been labelled as "genius" by Gary Neville " - this was carefully planned ahead of the clash.
Vicens is known to be responsible for some of City's more intricate set piece plans as he targets opposition weakness and works with analyst Jack Wilson to take advantage. It appears they found success against the Reds.
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On this occasion, Liverpool had nobody guarding their posts with Alexis Mac Allister instead being tasked with protecting that space. Nathan Ake successfully blocked the bath of the World Cup winner however, while Stones took advantage of a dawdling Darwin Nunez to slot in an accurate ball in from De Bruyne.
Stones paid credit to Vicens after the match when asked about the goal on Sky Sports and said: “We’ve worked hard on it all week. We spotted something yesterday, worked on it, and it came off.”
John Stones of Manchester City celebrates scoring from a clever set piece versus Liverpool (Robbie Jay Barratt)Vicens graduated to the first team coaching staff in 2021 and helped see immediate results. The following season season City netted 22 goals from set pieces and conceded just one in the Premier League - an Opta record in terms of differential.
While, Guardiola was quick to credit his backroom team, it appears the pundits would look to provide De Bruyne with the plaudits. The quality of his delivery was praised at half-time.
"There’s not many players in the world who could do what he’s done with that pass," said Roy Keane. "To deliver that and get that accuracy and speed, brilliant. They'd worked on the movement, a little bit of blocking but the delivery absolutely fantastic."
Jamie Carrager identified where Liverpool could have improved but ultimately also credited De Bruyne. He said: " I think it’s more down to De Bruyne’s quality rather than a Liverpool mistake.
"I just think Mac Allister has to be more aggressive at that front post. It’s obvious Ake is trying to move him for a reason and it’s just too easy. It’s something Man City have worked on clearly, a nice finish by Stones, but as I said, it’s more highlighting Man City’s quality than a Liverpool error"
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