Man City settles for a regrettable draw with Liverpool as their strikers miss too many opportunities
Liverpool remains Manchester City’s biggest rival in the Pep Guardiola era, and the pressure to secure a victory weighs heavily on the home team. Three points would widen the gap at the top, but anything else could see them lose their lead, with both Tottenham and Arsenal in contention to surpass them.
Manchester City started with confidence, displaying much better ball control than in the match against Chelsea. Dias and Rodri appeared more composed, and Ake demonstrated remarkable skills when participating in the attack.
However, the first clear opportunity belonged to Liverpool. In the 15th minute, Salah delivered a ball into the box for Darwin to head, but Ederson successfully thwarted the attempt. In the 27th minute, Alisson’s clearance was poor, allowing Ake to retain possession and penetrate Liverpool’s defense. Haaland was placed in an ideal position to score for Manchester City.
This marked his 50th goal in the Premier League, setting a record as the fastest player to reach 50 goals in history (48 matches) – 17 games faster than the previous record holder.
The 1-0 lead seemed fragile against a team like Liverpool. In the second half, the tension persisted. In the 67th minute, Dias put the ball into the net, but Akanji was deemed to have committed a foul for a slight nudge on goalkeeper Alisson. The referee disallowed Manchester City’s goal, leaving fans disappointed.
Despite creating numerous opportunities and failing to capitalize, Manchester City paid the price with a conceded goal in the 79th minute. Liverpool pushed high, and Alexander-Arnold unleashed a diagonal shot from the edge of the penalty area. The goal silenced the Etihad Stadium and added more pressure on the home team.
In the end, after a tense 8 minutes of stoppage time, Manchester City reluctantly accepted a draw with Liverpool. This opens the door for Arsenal to overtake them if they win against Brentford later tonight
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