3 hours ago
2
Pep Guardiola threw himself back into his seat in the dugout. The Manchester City manager had just witnessed a moment of sheer brilliance and, like everyone connected to his club, he had to fear the worst. Because this is how it has tended to go for him at Anfield.
The blow had been administered by Dominic Szoboszlai, the stand-in Liverpool right-back, and it is worth dwelling on it for a moment – if only a moment because it would be rapidly overtaken by a bonkers finale. When Szoboszlai addressed a free-kick 30 yards out, City did not look overly concerned. They only put two men in their wall.
Yet when Szoboszlai cut across the ball with the outside of his right boot, he sent it curling and dipping away from Gianluigi Donnarumma and in off the post. It was a goal which was fit to win any game. Just not this one. At one point during the celebrations, the Liverpool defender, Ibrahima Konaté, wandered over with his hands on his head. What had he just seen? Nothing yet, it turned out.
City’s Premier League title challenge looked set to turn to dust because they really needed to win to cut the gap to the leaders, Arsenal, which stood at nine points at kick-off time. They had controlled the first-half without getting a reward. And, as so often since the turn of the year, they had allowed their opponents back into the game after the break.
But City were not finished. The outstanding Bernardo Silva was not. And nor was Erling Haaland. It was Silva who fashioned the lifeline in the 84th minute as City threw caution to the wind, fastening on to a Haaland header to jab home the equaliser.
Guardiola felt the hope return. And his joy knew no bounds when Matheus Nunes surged onto a ball over the top of the Liverpool defence shortly after seven minutes of stoppage time had been signalled. He got there first, just before Alisson and then felt the Liverpool goalkeeper clean him out. It was clear penalty. How were Haaland’s nerves? Just fine. When he swept home, it was the prompt for wild scenes in the away end.
Implausibly, there was more. Alexis Mac Allister extended Donnarumma with a deflected shot and, from the corner, with Alisson forward, City somehow survived a scramble. They would break and that was when Rayan Cherki, on as a substitute, rolled a low shot ever so slowly towards the unguarded Liverpool goal from the halfway line. Szoboszlai, chasing back, fouled Haaland just outside the area and then the City player blocked him off and the ball went in.
What to make of this? After going to the pitchside screen, the referee, Craig Pawson, chose to send off Szoboszlai for the first offence, disallow the goal and give a free-kick to City. They would see it out, Guardiola winning for only the second time in ten attempts at Anfield. The title dream lives on.
It was loud and aggressive at the outset; highly charged. Which would be the tone of things. The Kop booed Marc Guéhi for going to City rather than their club when he left Crystal Palace in January. They loved it when Hugo Ekitiké robbed Abdukodir Khusanov as City built shakily from the back in the early going. The turnover on the byline would come to nothing. Guardiola was in the ear of the fourth official when decisions went in Liverpool’s favour.
Guardiola was desperate to move on from last Sunday’s surrender of two points in the 2-2 draw at Tottenham and he made only one change from the lineup that day – Omar Marmoush in, Cherki out. It was on those who had disappointed to make amends.
It was the box midfield for City and they settled quickly into their passing rhythms. They came to play and were the better team in the first-half, dominating the ball. Silva, in one of the deeper midfield roles, probed with menace. He dictated the tempo. Rayan Aït-Nouri caused problems with his runs up the left from the full-back position.
Liverpool could get little going before the interval and there were moments of frustration for them; loose passes, heavy touches including one from Mohamed Salah near to his own area that had the crowd howling.
There was a flap from Donnarumma under a high ball on 26 minutes that led to Salah lobbing over from an awkward angle and the moment that summed things up from a Liverpool point of view in the first-half came shortly afterwards when Hugo Ekitike went one-on-one with Guehi. The City defender stayed with him before winning the duel.
For all of their possession and front-footed intent, the little passes up through the lines, City struggled to create anything clear-cut before the interval. Haaland and Marmoush had shooting opportunities but could not get them to work. The best chance of the first-half was the one that Silva created in the second minute with a defensive-splitting pass for Haaland. Alisson got out quickly and Milos Kerkez beat Haaland to second phase ball.
It was an occasion that came coated in event glamour. Never mind that Liverpool are not in the title race. This is a rivalry that matters. The Kop played a vocal part, demanding more from their players. It was pulsating. Liverpool stepped higher up the pitch after the restart and they started to have their say. Loudly.
Salah snatched at a shooting chance, Szoboszlai banged one straight at Donnarumma and then it was over to Ekitiké. The striker curled past the far post when well placed but the big opening was the next one. It came after Antoine Semenyo had worked Alisson at the other end and the Liverpool goalkeeper went long back up the field.
Ekitiké passed left to Salah and continued his run into the area. It was a wonderful return ball from Salah, finessed with the outside of his boot and Ekitiké had to score. He fluffed the header with only Donnarumma to beat.
The tide had turned. It was all Liverpool. They attacked in waves. Florian Wirtz saw a shot blockd by Guéhi after a lovely Ekitiké lay-off and there was the moment when Salah got in behind Guéhi and felt the City player pull his shirt. It was just outside the area. Guéhi got away with yellow rather than red because Salah still had a fair bit to do. Salah blazed the free-kick wildly off target. Szoboszlai would show him how it is done. Cue the madness.
