The national media’s take on Liverpool’s thrilling 1-1 draw with Manchester City reflects on the Reds’ Premier League title hopes and more
The final Premier League meeting between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola ended in a typically thrilling and absorbing draw as Liverpool were held at Anfield by Manchester City.
Alexis Mac Allister’s second-half penalty, won after Darwin Nunez had been cleaned out by goalkeeper Ederson, cancelled out John Stones’s finish from a smart corner routine in the first period.
Despite fashioning a number of presentable chances in the second half, Liverpool were unable to nudge ahead and were denied a stoppage-time penalty when Jeremy Doku’s high boot caught Mac Allister in the chest. It means Arsenal are the new Premier League leaders after they had beaten Brentford at home 2-1 the previous evening.
Miguel Delaney, The Independent: “This is actually the real significance of a fixture that had been built up as another seismic Liverpool-City game but ended somewhat unsatisfactorily. There was no climax. Rather than settling anything, though, it set a pace.
“After months where Liverpool looked so promising but questions persisted over how good they actually were, we now have a definitive answer. They were able to come back against City and dominate the game with many senior players missing. That is a big step.
“They have become the team to beat… except for the fact that Arsenal are still ahead of them. And, once this duel between two great rivals was out of the way, thoughts properly turned to the fact this really looks like the Premier League’s first proper three-way race in a decade. Both managers were asked about the prospect, with neither having experienced it before.
“It is something new even for them. That creates even more excitement from a sense of uncertainty. They won’t just be looking to each other. Guardiola initially had a curious response when asked whether that posed a different challenge.
“‘You are not going to undermine our previous Premier Leagues,’ he said, before again mentioning ‘credit’.
“That whole debate is something that seems to have increasingly agitated the Catalan of late, and it’s hard not to wonder whether it’s linked to all the praise for the departing Klopp. The German himself simply ruminated on whether he’d ever been involved in a three-way race and concluded not.”
Henry Winter, The Times: “It promised to be an epic, and it delivered. The talent and desire levels guaranteed that. Before the exhilarating entertainment was even unleashed, Dominik Szoboszlai stood in the tunnel, leaning against the wall by the medical store, totally focused. As Michael Oliver signalled the teams to head out into the world of noise, Szoboszlai stretched his left hand out and patted Haaland on the nape of the neck. City’s towering forward turned and smiled. Respect was in the air.
“So was ‘Right Here, Right Now’, although nobody needed reminding of the importance of this passage of time across a murky Merseyside afternoon. Yet the sight of City winning the toss, and defying accepted custom for visitors and making Liverpool attack the Kop in the first half, was a sign of the champions’ desire to unsettle Klopp’s contenders. It didn’t work. There is a resilience to Klopp’s men.
“It was almost impossible to keep tabs on the endless, end-to-end drama. Doku hit the post, the ball bounced back into Kelleher’s grateful embrace. Salah immediately tore down the other end. City escaped a late scare when Doku raised his foot and caught Mac Allister with a high tackle. Oliver had a look and waved play on, VAR concurred, and honours were shared. The title honours are all to play
“Standing on the touchline, hands on his head with the smell of sulphur in the air, Pep Guardiola had been here before.
“Looking out at a swirl of red – a blizzard of red – threatening to engulf his team of champions, a Liverpool team propelled forward on a diet of emotion, adrenalin and purpose.
“This has been Liverpool during Guardiola’s years in the Premier League with Manchester City. This has been Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Soon it will be different and Guardiola – deep in his coach’s heart – will know that better than most.
“Whatever happens between now and the season’s end – whoever wins this year’s Premier League – Guardiola will watch Klopp walk away knowing that he never quite managed to solve the puzzle.
