NEWS. . . BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Liverpool and Manchester City played a thrilling 1-1 draw on Sunday to leave Arsenal top of the Premier League in the final failure of this sensational race for names.
John Stones gave the Citizens the lead, but Alexis Mac Allister equalised from the penalty spot just after the break, and both teams squandered countless opportunities to win this ultimate match.
The two teams met at Anfield knowing that a win would take them to the top of the title race, while a draw would keep Arsenal at the top of the table after their overdue win over Brentford on Saturday night.
As expected, they went full throttle and from start to finish from the first whistle, with Kevin De Bruyne and Darwin Núñez making the most of the early chances.
Nunez appeared to have created the opening goal after breaking through City’s defence to set up Luis Diaz for a touch, but the flag was temporarily raised for a clear offside against the Uruguayan striker.
But in the end, it was De Bruyne who opened the scoring, with his deceptive corner locating Stones who pressed the ball close to the post, the credits go to Nathan Ake, whose clever block from Mac Allister gave the Stones freedom.
Liverpool, however, recovered with Dominik Szoboszlai, who came close to equalising, heading Harvey Elliott’s cross from the right just wide of the post, before Luis Diaz fired a fine shot from the edge of the box just wide of the goal. .
City came close to getting a moment before half-time on several occasions, most notably when, on the counter-attack, Erling Haaland hit Virgil van Dijk, but his next shot went straight at Caoimhin Kelleher.
Kyle Walker proved to be a risk all over the pitch for the Reds and the right-back scored City’s second goal after picking up the ball in his own half before bursting into the box, only for him to inexplicably fail to find a goal. . teammate with their back crossover.
Those missed chances would come back to haunt the Citizens immediately after the break, when they conceded a penalty after Ederson was forced to take out Nunez as he chased Ake’s terrible backpass to his goalkeeper.
With regular taker Mohammed Salah on the bench, Mac Allister stepped in to execute the shot and made no mistakes, running into the more sensible left corner in front of Ederson, who had dived in the right direction.
Things went from bad to worse for the Brazilian goalkeeper, who stopped minutes later and had to be replaced by Stefan Ortega, leaving either of them with their second goalkeeper between the posts.
The draw set off a series of wild events, which began with Diaz squandering two excellent chances in the box in just a few minutes, despite the one-on-one with Ortega in both scenarios.
City’s No. 2 came into action on several occasions, saving a close variety after Nunez connected with Andy Robertson’s cross and then parried Jarell Quansah’s shot from distance.
At the other end, Kelleher, after brilliantly denying Phil Foden in the second half, tried to hit a mocking City cross, but sent the ball straight into attacking midfield, with the rebound echoing off the crossbar.
The post was rattled in the final minutes, thanks to substitute Jeremy Doku, who thought he had scored, but his shot hit the post and fell softly into Kelleher’s arms.
The drama continued until the last second, when Liverpool came close to being awarded a penalty in the 98th minute after Doku grabbed Mac Allister in the chest with a top boot, but after a VAR check, Michael Oliver let him play.
The result leaves Arsenal and Liverpool on 64 points, with the former leading goal difference, and City on 63 with 10 games remaining.
Put us in your feed