Manchester City don’t. Pep Guardiola was unfazed by the loss of this first Community Shield held in July, but he can scrutinize how Erling Haaland was virtually anonymous throughout as this, despite the manager’s protests after the defeat, interrupted team pace. The No 9’s unique moment came when he sparked the run that led to Julian Álvarez’s equalizer – and his first in City colors – and finished with the kind of gaping, glaring miss that can haunt, bursting out when it was easier to he scores. At the final whistle Liverpool had the excellent Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah on the scoresheet plus the dynamic Darwin Nunez, who scored their third and set up Egypt’s penalty. Salah, in a raucous atmosphere at a packed King Power Stadium, was the effervescent star of the first half. An early play was to sell a dummy and shoot – it only found the side of the net, but City had a warning they didn’t heed as, all too often, the No 11 was allowed to wreak havoc. It was seven minutes in when Guardiola unleashed a first twist of the term: Joao Cancelo fell victim to going back towards goal instead of finding Jack Grealish with a through ball to the left. Mohamed Salah celebrates after putting Liverpool ahead from the penalty spot. Photo: Nick Potts/PA City were overwhelmed, so when Kevin De Bruyne took a corner and the same player took the short delivery and curled in a cross, Nathan Ake was finally able to threaten Adrian’s goal, although he failed to connect. The latter was Guardiola’s surprise of the day – the Catalan usually has one – as the Dutchman who was almost sold to Chelsea was preferred to John Stones. Aké, however, was part of a rearguard that struggled to thwart Liverpool. A prime example of Salah’s freedom came when he checked and fed the ball inside to Alexander-Arnold. The right-back, seeing Andy Robertson fly towards the far post, chipped the Scot who should have finished. All the noise came from the red part of the room, all the action from those of the same color. So when Alexander-Arnold struck, there was little surprise. Salah – again – was found, this time by Thiago Alcantara. And, again, the right-back was waiting to his left: Salah tapped the ball to him and a curling shot beat Ederson through Ake’s forehead. City, stung, soon had De Bruyne running onto a threading pass from Riyad Mahrez, but the Belgian missed. Haaland, at this juncture, was a non-factor, limited to the odd touch and zero chances. He finally had two of the latter. After teeing up Robertson, he set up Adrián to save but then, in the same passage, appeared clumsy on one foot when he turned in a cross with his left when the corner was turned to his right. City rallied as the interval approached, closing the 45 minutes as they would have liked: ball control and ground near the Liverpool goal. But there was no equalizer – a Mahrez curler simple for Adrián to collect an apt picture of his immortality. Trent Alexander-Arnold opens the scoring. Photo: Tony Obrien/Reuters When the teams were named Haaland was the first signing of the summer in the XI, which meant that Kalvin Phillips and Álvarez, Guardiola’s other new recruits, were City’s replacements as, for the FA Cup holders, they were the new Klopp’s men – Núñez and Fabio Carvalho. Unless either manager made changes in the second half, Liverpool soon, once again, carried the threat. From a free-kick on the left, Robertson flicked the ball into the City area before Ake, leaping, headed home. The menacing Alexander-Arnold then charged towards Ederson and was cleared close to the six-yard box, Robertson crashed in a cross and Jordan Henderson looked to nip down the right before returning to traffic. Guardiola now made a move by making two changes: the ineffective Haaland might have been one, but he was off as Grealish and Mahrez were stuck, Phil Foden and Álvarez came on. At this juncture, Roberto Firmino was also sacrificed – by Klopp – for Núñez, so the country’s top two rivals now had their new top marksman in action. What was surprising was how static City were with Haaland in the ranks: Guardiola, at least this afternoon, lost the fluid attacking play that had been so sparkling and successful for City due to the Norwegian’s reluctance to leave the front. The Fiver: sign up and receive our daily football email. That was until Álvarez’s leveler when Haaland did just that – found space and passed to De Bruyne. His cross was volleyed by Foden to Adrian and when the striker challenged the keeper, the ball was deflected to Alvarez whose shot was blocked – after a long check for offside. But, now, came a second VAR inquiry: Craig Pawson was sent to the pitch-side monitor and ruled that Rúben Dias had handled Núnéz’s header. Salah coolly scored the penalty before Núñez sealed victory in stoppage time.