John Stones’ 24th-minute opener for the champions was cancelled out by Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty for the Reds four minutes into the second half at a vociferous Anfield, as 2023/24’s three-way Premier League title race took another intriguing turn.
With 10 PL games remaining for each of the top three, it is now Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal who occupy first place.
After a 2-1 home win over Brentford on Saturday evening took them to the summit, this sharing of the spoils between second-placed Liverpool and third-placed Manchester City means the North Londoners will remain there until at least 31st March.
Courtesy of next weekend’s FA Cup quarter-finals and a subsequent international break, that Sunday is when all three teams are next in league action, with the Reds hosting Brighton and Hove Albion, while Arteta’s side, enticingly, travel to face City.
Arsenal on 64, Liverpool on 64, but with a slightly poorer goal difference, Manchester City on 63 – those are the respective points totals as the home straight approaches. It could hardly be tighter.
The excitement-filled build-up to this latest meeting of these two modern-day heavyweights, once again, proved to be justified.
What a fixture Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City has been for the Premier League in recent years. It has, arguably, hit heights, caught the imagination, and stirred footballing souls to an extent not previously witnessed.
The knowledge that this would be the final league edition, even if an FA Cup meeting remains possible, only enhanced the levels of anticipation and appreciation surrounding this game.
Klopp’s announcement in late January that he would leave LFC at the end of this season, after nearly nine years as manager, has enhanced the emotional intensity levels that bit further in recent weeks.
Having dramatically defeated Chelsea in extra-time to win the Carabao Cup a fortnight ago, and with pursuits of the Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup ongoing, an unprecedented quadruple remains a possibility.
That context is made all the more impressive by an injury list that remains sizeable and the fact that the considerable turnover in players over the summer meant this was widely anticipated to be a season of transition.
City, meanwhile, could themselves break new ground this term by winning England's top-flight league title for a fourth consecutive season and securing back-to-back trebles, given they remain very much alive in their defence of the league, Champions League and FA Cup trophies that they lifted in 2022/23.
Sunday’s match at Anfield felt an apt reflection of the levels that these two outfits are hitting currently, and have hit so consistently since Klopp got to work on Merseyside in 2015 and Guardiola did so in Manchester in 2016.
The first half was largely dictated by the visitors, who constructed incisive moves, found spaces and created openings with sublime smoothness and persistence. The lead they took via a clever corner – delivered by Kevin De Bruyne and converted by Stones – was well-earned.
The second, meanwhile, was played much more to the hosts’ tune. Mac Allister swiftly levelled from the spot after Darwin Núñez beat Ederson to Nathan Aké’s back-pass and was fouled by the Brazilian goalkeeper, who subsequently had to leave the action due to the knock he sustained in that challenge.
Considerable pressure was applied by the Reds in their search for a winner, but it ultimately proved evasive, while City substitute Jérémy Doku himself came agonisingly close to a late clincher when he struck the inside of the post.
A game fit for these teams, these managers, and this title race.
Story of the match
Liverpool made three changes from Thursday’s 5-1 Europa League round of 16 first-leg win at Sparta Prague.
Centre-back Ibrahima Konaté, who suffered an apparent injury in that game, Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo, made way for Virgil van Dijk, Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai – who was making his first start since 31st January following a spell out with a hamstring issue.
That also meant top-scorer Mohamed Salah – himself on the way back from a hamstring injury – would again start on the bench, as he had done in Czechia three days earlier.
Manchester City, meanwhile, made six alterations from Wednesday’s 3-1 home Champions League round of 16 second-leg success over FC København, completing a 6-2 aggregate victory.
That saw Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Aké, Stones, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne come in for Rico Lewis, Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, Mateo Kovačić, Matheus Nunes and Oscar Bobb.
Guardiola’s side were quick off the mark. There was likely an awareness that such an approach was required in this context.
Julián Álvarez and De Bruyne both saw well-struck attempts kept out by Caoimhín Kelleher inside the first 10 minutes, either side of De Bruyne dinking an effort – possibly intended to be a cross – narrowly beyond the top-right corner, following one of several promising early advances from the Sky Blues.
The hosts then got a foot on the ball and in the game.
Bradley’s cross from the right flashed across the face of goal, while Núñez – familiarly proactive – headed a Luis Díaz cross off-target.
Díaz had the ball in the net soon after but Núñez, who squared it to him, was rightly flagged offside.
Stones then opened the scoring – and in such clever fashion.
In what very much looked a pre-planned routine, De Bruyne whipped a 24th-minute corner low to the near-post and the England international flicked home right-footed from close-range.
They were good value for the lead at this stage, and the game kept rattling along in all directions.
Szoboszlai headed a teasing Harvey Elliott cross off-target, while Erling Haaland ran at, and was shepherded wide by, the excellent Van Dijk before the Norwegian sent a shot into the gloves of Caoimhín Kelleher.
As half-time approached, and the Reds began to win and retain possession inside the visitors’ half more and more, Díaz shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
A City advance led by Walker, who sharply intercepted a Joe Gomez pass, then ended with the 33-year-old’s delivery narrowly evading De Bruyne at the far-post.
Moments later, Stones controlled and cleared a low Bradley delivery with immense coolness in stoppage time at the end of the half, which concluded with Ederson assuredly gathering Szoboszlai’s well-struck free-kick.
Come the restart, Liverpool began to click into a different gear – propelled, at least in part, by the swiftness of their equaliser.
Within two minutes, Núñez set off in pursuit of an Aké back-pass, poked it beyond the advancing Ederson and was caught by the Brazilian goalkeeper’s swinging left foot.
The most uncharacteristically careless of moments, from the champions’ perspective. From Núñez’s and the Reds’, it was reward for the most proactive of pieces of work.
It still needed capitalising on, of course. Mac Allister did so with aplomb from 12 yards, which was made additionally impressive by the wait of over two minutes he had prior to taking the penalty.
Referee Michael Oliver had pointed immediately to the spot, but Ederson required treatment on the knock to the leg he suffered in the collision with Núñez.
He got up and got close to Mac Allister’s penalty, but the Argentina international tucked his spot-kick superbly inside the left-hand post.
And, within 10 minutes, the issue would force Ederson to make way for Stefan Ortega. Guardiola and co will, of course, hope that’s not a long-term problem, with the season’s business end now, virtually, upon us.
The intensity inside Anfield, on every front, was ratcheting up.
Liverpool were, primarily, swinging the pendulum in their direction, but that City threat was still very much present.
A clever De Bruyne pass put Foden through in the 58th minute. Kelleher, though, closed the angle well and made a good stop with his legs.
And it was in the following spell where the hosts really became the contest’s leading force, even if that lead never quite materialised.
Klopp described it, post-match, as the best second half his side had played against City. It was, indeed, difficult to think of too many other scenarios where this modern iteration of the Sky Blues have been under the cosh to such an extent.
The second-half Expected Goals told a story, with the hosts’ at 1.95 and the visitors’ at 0.42.
It had been 1.19 to 0.50 in City’s favour prior to the interval, however. These were two considerably contrasting, but similarly compelling, halves of football.
The effervescent Díaz was right at the heart of things.
Just before the hour mark, he led a charge from the right, exchanged passes with Núñez, but saw the Uruguayan’s return pass bobble out of his control before he could face up Ortega.
Soon after, he raced onto a sublime through-ball from Salah, who’d recently been introduced alongside Robertson, but sidefooted narrowly wide.
The Colombian was then played into the box again by Núñez but couldn’t quite muster a shot before Walker recovered with typical swiftness to guide the ball behind for a corner.
Díaz will doubtless have been disappointed such moments didn’t lead to goals, but the 27-year-old, familiarly, simply refused to relent.
He produced several invigorating dribbles before the game was out and was a consistent driving force as the clock ticked down.
Mac Allister and Jarell Quansah saw efforts from range palmed away by Ortega, either side of the German ‘keeper making a key point-blank stop when Robertson’s superb 71st-minute delivery from the left was poked goalwards by Núñez.
Foden then, somewhat inadvertently, struck the top of the Liverpool bar, after Kelleher punched a cross from the left against the 23-year-old.
Replays, though, showed the ball did strike the City man’s arm, which would have seen the goal disallowed had the ricochet found the net.
Doku had been introduced alongside Kovačić for Álvarez and, somewhat surprisingly, De Bruyne midway through the second half, and the Belgian winger came agonisingly close to a possible winner in the 89th minute.
An incisive City move put the 21-year-old one-on-one with Gomez and, after shifting the ball onto his left foot, his low effort slid across Kelleher, struck the base of the right-hand post and bounced back into the grateful gloves of the Republic of Ireland stopper.
It felt a moment that fittingly reflected the fine margins that have so often shaped this mesmerising fixture in recent years.
The Reds may have bossed much of this half, but no side every truly feels dormant in this match-up.
There were more moments of note as eight minutes of stoppage time, which were largely a result of Ederson’s earlier treatment, progressed.
Within the final minute of those allotted, substitute Gakpo latched onto a flick from Wataru Endo – who, again, was superb at the base of the Liverpool midfield – in the box but opted to try to find Salah, rather than fire goalwards.
Aké stopped the 31-year-old from getting his own shot off, though.
A corner followed – and another penalty appeal.
After City half-cleared, Doku raised his boot in the box, got the ball, but then caught Mac Allister’s chest.
Oliver opted against pointing to the spot this time, and VAR Stuart Attwell also decided against sending his colleague to the pitchside monitor.
It felt ill-judged from the No.11, but the fact he seemingly made an attempt to pull his boot away may have been what decisively helped his case.
The final whistle soon arrived. The match, unsurprisingly, went the distance. It looks increasingly likely that this season’s title race will do likewise.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: VIRGIL VAN DIJK
There were so many admirable performances within this brilliantly engaging afternoon, but the Liverpool captain’s multifaceted contribution once again caught the eye.
Arguably the only member of the Reds ‘first-choice’ backline who started the game, the 32-year-old offered assurance, leadership and key contributions aplenty.
In the absence of regular goalkeeper Alisson Becker, right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, centre-back Konaté and left-back Robertson, each of Kelleher, Bradley, Quansah and Gomez each played admirably positive parts.
It was hardly surprising, given what they’ve all offered when called upon so far this term, but this was a contest of a freshly lofty standard.
Van Dijk, once again, represented a lynchpin in and out of possession who helped those teammates hit such levels.
It was his trademark raking diagonal ball to Bradley that led to the hosts’ first notable opening of the contest within an often difficult opening phase. That was one of 77 successful passes from the 79 he attempted – making for an impressive 97% completion-rate.
The Netherlands skipper also made two last-man tackles, four interceptions and won five of his eight duels.
A typically rounded display in this most quality-ridden of fixtures and the No.4 looks set to continue to be a crucial contributor in the latter weeks of this most thrilling of campaigns.