Liverpool and Man City shared a thrilling 1-1 draw in their mammoth Premier League title clash.
Pep Guardiola admitted that Manchester City had to survive an Anfield ‘tsunami’ in their 1-1 draw against Liverpool.
Guardiola’s final Premier League meeting against long-time sparring partner Jurgen Klopp ended with the honours even in the title battle. John Stones gave City the lead in the 23rd minute but that was cancelled out by Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty five minutes into the second period.
The Reds asserted their authority in the game after that, with Luis Diaz failing to take two good chances and Darwin Nunez having an effort saved. City did threaten to return to the Etihad with all three points but Jeremy Doku struck the post on 89 minutes. Liverpool then had a penalty appeal turned down deep into stoppage-time as Mac Allister collided with Doku but referee Michael Oliver and VAR did not believe it was a foul.
The stalemate means that Arsenal now lead the Premier League ahead of Liverpool on goal difference, with City a point adrift. Etihad boss Guardiola said: “We spoke at half-time that in this stadium, if you have to defend something, you have to play and play and play.
“We gave away the penalty and, sooner or later, with this stadium, you have 15 or 20 minutes and it looks like a tsunami coming for everybody who has the ball.
“It is not easy but we never stopped trying to play. They had their chances, we had our chances and at the end of the game it (draw) is what happened.
“Still there are 10 games to go, 30 points to play for, one point difference. The important thing is still we are there, after where we came from in previous seasons still we are there. Except one year when Liverpool won it with a lot of points, we were always there.”
Speaking to the BBC on the atmosphere at Anfield, Guardiola said: “I know how difficult it is at Anfield. It is difficult at Etihad too, Liverpool have not won there in eight years. We prove, both sides we are incredible competitors. I would prefer a win but they prove for many years the quality they have. It was good from everyone.”
