Liverpool rampage too much for Man City, says Oxlade-Chamberlain
The former Arsenal midfielder set in motion a thrilling 4-3 win for Jurgen Klopp's men, who responded to Leroy Sane's equaliser five minutes before half-time by putting City to the sword after the break.
Roberto Firmino caught out John Stones to get on the end of Oxlade-Chamberlain's throughball and dink a finish past Ederson, the first of three goals in a dizzying nine-minute spell, with Sadio Mane and the excellent Mohamed Salah also getting in on the act.
It meant a first loss in 23 Premier League outings for Pep Guardiola's side this term, whose heads cleared in the closing stages as substitute Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan set up a grandstand finish.
"It's a nice statement for us. They've been brilliant all year, they’re a fantastic side," said Oxlade-Chamberlain, who felt Liverpool targeted City's approach of building play from the back to superb effect.
"We knew we had what it took if we were 100 per cent at the races.
"We know they like to play out from the back and they're really good at it but we also thrive on a team doing that.
"It can play into our hands and it showed when we went on a bit of a rampage after half-time.
"The plan was to defend as well as we could all over the pitch and then attack them when we could."
Four goals but which was your favourite?? pic.twitter.com/lb6rAASqY0
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 14, 2018
Oxlade-Chamberlain hailed Klopp for encouraging to him to shoot more often after his swiftly taken ninth-minute effort zipped beyond Ederson to bring Anfield to its feet.
"I drove through and there was a little gap that opened up," he explained on Sky Sports. "The manager keeps telling me to shoot and luckily it went in."
After Silva and Gundogan hauled City back into the contest, Sergio Aguero headed into the side-netting in stoppage time, with nerves fraying all around the ground even as the linesman raised his flag.
"With the substitution, it was a like we had too much time to think about the set-piece," said Oxlade-Chamberlain, having seen the backline reshuffled as Ragnar Klavan was introduced in place of Mane.
"It was a little bit nerve-wracking but thankfully it didn't go in."