Belgian winger was his side’s source of inspiration and showed the heights he can still reach
Against Liverpool at the Etihad on Sunday, the 23-year-old Jeremy Doku delivered one of his best performances since joining Manchester City, capping it with a superb solo goal.
The Belgian winger showed a glimpse of the heights he can still reach with the way he tormented Liverpool’s right side all evening. The champions doubled up against him most of the time, but he still blitzed through them nearly every time he got the ball.
One on occasion, with Ryan Gravenberch and Conor Bradley cornering him on Liverpool’s right flank, the winger cut in between the two of them and left them for dead there. Gravenberch won the Premier League Young Player of the Season last term and has been praised as one of the best tacklers in the league. Bradley was hailed for his outstanding performance against Real Madrid in midweek, when he muzzled Vinicius Junior.
Doku’s end-product needs work. That much is clear. But if he succeeds in refining that he can go on to become one of the best players in the world. Early on in the first half he created time and space in Liverpool’s box but fell and failed to get a proper shot away. He was lucky that the referee awarded a penalty for a foul by Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. Contact was barely evident and on another occasion the referee could have dismissed penalty claims.
After skipping past Gravenberch and Bradley he also failed to trouble the goalkeeper, with Mamardashvili saving his scuffed effort easily. But the Belgian more than showed that he is also capable of a golden finish when he danced beyond Ibrahima Konate in the second half and curled a magnificent shot into the far corner.
“He’s demanding himself to be better, he listens, and he has special attributes with dribbles,” manager Pep Guardiola said. “He was aggressive with and without the ball, and we tried to help him. He played an outstanding game.”
Guardiola said he had been particularly impressed with how Doku handled himself against Bradley.
“Pep Lijnders told me a thousand incredibly good things about that guy,” said City’s manager. “He can do everything. I know the game against Madrid how good [he was] against Vinicius, and Doku handled it.”
