27th December 1982
LIVERPOOL (3) 5 (Dalglish 18, 24, 86, Neal 22, Rush 64)
MAN CITY (1) 2 (Cross 41, Caton 90)
LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Neal, Lawrenson, Hansen, A.Kennedy; Lee, Souness, Whelan (Fairclough); Rush, Hodgson, Dalglish
MAN CITY: Corrigan; Ranson, Bond, Caton, McDonald; Bodak, Hartford, Power; Reeves, Cross, Tueart
Bob Paisley’s final Christmas as Liverpool manager and his side were again top of the table. They’d lost just once in the last 10 games and had won 4-2 at Villa just before Christmas. Manchester City were in 9th with just 1 win in their last 6 including being held at home by bottom club, Brighton.
This was the season when the partnership of Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish really started to come to the fore. The pair had scored 20 between them already by the time they welcomed City the day after Boxing Day.
City managed to keep the home side at bay for almost 20 minutes but then Dalglish broke the deadlock. This then opened up the floodgates as Liverpool scored 3 goals in just 6 minutes. Phil Neal got the 2nd goal, and unusually it came from open play. Within 2 minutes Dalglish had doubled his tally for the day and it was 3-0 before City knew it.
Just before the break David Cross, who’d won an FA Cup winners medal in 1980 with West Ham, got a goal back for the visitors but it was no more than a consolation. In the second half, City managed to repel the home side for the first 20 minutes but then Ian Rush extended the lead with his 14th of the season. 4-1 to Liverpool and they were cruising at this point. Dalglish then completed his hat-trick with 4 minutes to go. He’d scored a hat-trick in the corresponding fixture four years previously and he was back to be the scourge of City again.
City centre-back, Tommy Caton, scored right on the final whistle but it flattered the visitors as Liverpool ran out comfortable 5-2 winners. They maintained their 5pt lead at the top and went onto win the title by 11pts. They also won the League Cup for a third successive year. For Manchester City 1983 was a disaster. They started the year in 9th and by mid-May they were relegated, winning just 4 matches in the second half of the season, and suffering a further 0-4 loss to Liverpool in the return fixture.