Man City and Liverpool share spoils in Klopp and Guardiola's last dance
Man City started strongly amid the organised chaos of an Anfield-backed Liverpool with the PL title on their mind, yet that didn’t initially translate into a lead as Caoimhín Kelleher denied Julián Álvarez and Kevin De Bruyne inside the opening eight minutes.
It wasn’t long until the Reds got Darwin Núñez involved in proceedings, with the in-form striker sending a header wide and straying offside before teeing up Luis Díaz for a tap-in.
A whole host of Liverpool tackles and efforts had been met with an almighty roar from the home crowd. It was the away end that could be heard in the 23rd minute, though, as De Bruyne bamboozled Liverpool’s defence with an intelligent corner delivery that John Stones snuck in to turn through Kelleher’s clutches.
De Bruyne then saw a shot deflected by Conor Bradley and Erling Haaland’s attempt was saved following a one-on-one with Virgil van Dijk, although the Reds carved out their own openings either side of those efforts with Dominik Szoboszlai and Díaz both unable to find the target.
Liverpool were offered a route back into the game within 90 seconds of the restart, as Nathan Aké under-hit his backpass and Ederson took out Núñez to concede a penalty.
Alexis Mac Allister had to wait longer than that to take the spot kick but still beat the goalkeeper with a clinical effort.
While Pep Guardiola was forced to bring off Ederson due to injury, Jürgen Klopp was able to call upon the talismanic Mohamed Salah, who slid through a pinpoint ball for Díaz who missed the target, then had the ball stolen from him by Kyle Walker moments later.
The hosts continued to push for a vital winner but Stefan Ortega made a brilliantly instinctive save to deny Núñez, while Jérémy Doku struck the post at the other end as the teams were forced to settle for a draw.
The Reds’ eighth match unbeaten across all competitions leaves them behind Arsenal solely on goal difference in the PL title race, while Man City’s 21st consecutive game unbeaten means they stand a point behind the leading pair.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
