What was billed as a title decider ended up prolonging the fight, as Liverpool fought back from a poor start to draw 2-2 with Premier League leaders Man City.
Man City 2-2 Liverpool
Premier League (31), Etihad
April 10, 2022
Goals
De Bruyne 5′
Jota 13′ (assist – Alexander-Arnold)
Jesus 36′
Mane 46′ (assist – Salah)
Given all the hype around the fixture, it was remarkable how slow Liverpool started the game, and it paid off for City as Kevin De Bruyne found the back of the net – via a Joel Matip deflection – within five minutes.
But thankfully, Liverpool had Thiago, who brought the level back up.
It was the battling Spaniard who launched the attack for the equaliser, his raking ball out to Trent Alexander-Arnold sparking an attack which ended with Diogo Jota sweeping home for 1-1.
The erratic Ederson gave Liverpool hope on a number of occasions, but managed to scrape through, while De Bruyne went close on the half-hour with another low effort.
City were back in front before the break, though, and it came as Gabriel Jesus exploited a disjointed defensive line, creeping on to a deep cross from Joao Cancelo to touch in over Alisson.
There was a huge chance for Jota as half-time approached, but with the Portuguese sent through on goal with either a shot or pass on, he did neither and was snuffed out.
HT: Man City 2-1 Liverpool
There were no changes at the interval, with Klopp emerging from the tunnel after a short, and no doubt terse, messages to his players.
And their response came within a minute, with a flowing move seeing Mohamed Salah feed the birthday boy Sadio Mane, who calmly beat Ederson with a comfortable finish.
The goal gave Liverpool confidence, and particularly Salah who recovered from an anonymous first half to stamp his influence on the game from the right flank.
But then came another scare as Raheem Sterling was sent through and beat Alisson for what seemed like a third of the day for City, only for the winger to be rightly ruled out for offside after a VAR check.
On went Luis Diaz, with a subpar Jota hooked, as Klopp turned to his wildcard from the bench, with Naby Keita soon to follow for Jordan Henderson.
The bold approach led to few opportunities, in truth, and the two sides were left to settle for a point which hardly separates the two rivals with seven games left to play.
TIA Man of the Match: Sadio Mane
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, Bernardo, De Bruyne; Jesus (Grealish 83′), Foden, Sterling (Mahrez 75′)
Subs not used: Steffen, Ake, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Lavia, McAtee
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson (Keita 78′), Thiago; Salah, Mane (Firmino 84′), Jota (Diaz 70′)
Subs not used: Kelleher, Konate, Gomez, Tsimikas, Milner, Jones
Next match: Benfica (H) – Champions League – Wednesday, April 13, 8pm (BST)
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