The moment Man City was surprisingly taken by Liverpool, Jack Grealish was the best and most calm player on the home team. The English striker and Riyad Mahrez were chosen to drill through Liverpool's defense. In the end, both of them did it excellently.
On a day marked by a penalty against Liverpool's right wing defence, Grealish gave Trent Alexander-Arnold a worsening day. In the 90 minutes at the Etihad, there was not a single time that the Liverpool defender felt Grealish, from dribbling to dangerous shots. It feels like Alexander-Arnold is a Premier League trainee when facing the most valuable star in the history of English football.
Breaking the opponent's defense not only on the right wing, Grealish also made super center back Virgil van Dijk suffer. The Kop's defensive support during a day was under terrible pressure from two often confused wings. When he could not take care of his own position, Van Dijk could not direct Andy Robertson and Alexander-Arnold, leading to the situation getting worse.
In Man City's last 15 matches, excluding the FA Cup, Grealish has made 13 appearances for The Citizens. This frequency shows the seemingly irreplaceable role of the English striker in Pep Guardiola's squad. After scoring, Grealish was tightly hugged by his coach. That is a worthy reward, much more than the title of best player he received not long after.
Phil Foden's contribution this season has been interrupted many times due to injuries. Foden's latest rectal surgery could keep the striker out for 3-4 weeks. That is an opportunity for Grealish to further consolidate his position in the Etihad Stadium team's formation.
Pep Guardiola clearly aims that Man City wants to win all the remaining matches of the season to ensure they can solve their own problems before waiting for Arsenal to stumble and solve the "final" match of the season with this opponent on April 27. From now until then, right around the time Foden was injured, Grealish is facing the opportunity to become one of the heroes of The Citizens this season if he successfully makes a comeback against Arsenal.
The only thing Grealish needs to improve is his ability to score. Pep once said that he would not send this striker to the Etihad Stadium to serve the purpose of tearing the opponent's net. However, after other good skills and being maintained with a stable frequency, more goals are both an inevitable result and a requirement for upgrading. Grealish is benefiting a lot and needs to make better use of the time he plays regularly.
