Liverpool vs. Manchester City: Score, Reaction from 2016 Premier League Match

Liverpool dealt Manchester City's diminishing title hopes a potentially fatal blow as they beat the Sky Blues 3-0 at Anfield on Wednesday.

Just three days on from the Reds' penalty shootout defeat to City in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley, Adam Lallana and James Milner gave Liverpool a comfortable 2-0 lead at half-time.

Roberto Firmino added a third just before the hour after excellent work from Lallana in the build-up as Jurgen Klopp's side cantered to victory in the end.

 Both sides provided details of their starting lineups ahead of the match:

BBC Radio 5live provided Liverpool's team from the last time full-back Jon Flanagan made an appearance in the starting XI in the league:

It was a fairly flat start on Merseyside, unsurprising given both sides' recent travails at Wembley, but the hosts had the better of the opening exchanges.

Firmino forced a routine save from Joe Hart in the first 20 minutes, but the game did not really get going until Lallana fired home the opener from 30 yards in the 34th minute.

It was far from a bullet strike by the former Southampton man, but his precise left-footed shot trickled past a despairing Hart, who saw the ball late.

As noted by the Times' Henry Winter, the City defence were culpable for not closing Lallana down:

Milner then doubled Liverpool's lead against his former club just four minutes before the break, poking home after taking Firmino's ball past Vincent Kompany with an excellent first touch.

Liverpool provided a graphic of the build-up to the second goal:

City had looked short on ideas in the first half, and manager Manuel Pellegrini looked to rectify the situation by replacing Raheem Sterling with Wilfried Bony in the break.

It had little effect, and Divock Origi had the first chance of the second half three minutes in when he forced Hart into a smart save from a tight angle—though the young Belgian arguably should have squared the ball across the box.

Pellegrini threw on another striker to join Sergio Aguero and Bony when he replaced Fernandinho with Kelechi Iheanacho as City looked to get something from the game.

Again, though, it was Liverpool who remained on top, and Firmino put the game to bed in the 57th minute.

Some quick feet from Lallana saw him glide through the Sky Blues' back line, and he fed the Brazilian perfectly to bury a right-footed finish into the corner.

Firmino's influence has become more and more important for the Reds as the season has worn on, and he was fully deserving of his goal, per WhoScored.com:

Milner almost piled more misery on to City on the hour when he let fly form just outside the box, but Hart saved well and pushed the ball over the bar.

The visitors could just not get into the game, and even Aguero could not find space in the box as he was well marshalled by Kolo Toure.

Bony offered little, a tame late attempt from distance fairly indicative of his night's work.

Joe Allen almost added a spectacular fourth in stoppage-time, but the game eventually finished 3-0, and City now have a 10-point gap to make up on Premier League leaders Leicester City.

Post-Match Reaction

Klopp was clearly delighted with his side's display at Anfield after the victory, per BT Sport Football:

Meanwhile, Pellegrini cited recent efforts in the UEFA Champions League and Capital One Cup as key reasons for City's poor performance on Wednesday.

"It is difficult to have an excuse, but I saw the team was not recovered from the last week. We played Champions League and then League Cup final and I saw team was not fresh and Liverpool played better," he said, per BBC Sport's Tom Rostance.

The Chilean vowed, however, that the Sky Blues would "continue fighting" in their bid for the Premier League title.