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Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool
by James Nalton
at Eastlands
“I am going to drink my wine with one point,” said Pep Guardiola after watching his Manchester City team concede a late equaliser to Liverpool at Eastlands on Saturday.
“Statistics or who deserved it more, it doesn’t count,” added the Catalan.
“I am incredibly pleased about the performance because Liverpool are an incredible team.”
At kick-off, early on Saturday afternoon, the meeting between these two teams was a familiar top-of-the-table clash.
For much of it, it looked like City would extend the gap between themselves and Liverpool from one point to four after Erling Haaland scored with just under half an hour gone.
City had edged what was a tight, intense game that tested the quality of the players on both teams.
A combination of high defensive lines, pressing and a condensed midfield battle made for a sometimes frantic contest.
An eye-catching performance from Jeremy Doku saw him display the dribbling skill that has given City an extra dimension this season.
But Guardiola’s side were ultimately unable to convert any of this into a second goal that would have sealed the win.
Liverpool remained in with a chance of getting something from the game and Trent Alexander-Arnold took the opportunity when it came, firing a shot inside the far post having drifted into midfield, finding space on the edge of the area.
“He played a really good game, super-influential,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said of Alexander-Arnold’s performance.
Alexander-Arnold was tested defensively by Doku.
“He had his moments with Doku where he was really strong in the one-on-one situations,” added Klopp.
“You could see in a lot of moments how difficult it is against him, he is a really good dribbler.
"Trent was pretty influential today, in a good way.”
The draw opened the door for Arsenal to go top of the table, and they walked through it into the number one spot thanks to their win against Brentford.
But the teams that battled it out at Eastlands look once again like the best around, and it would be a surprise if one of them isn't top at the end of the season.
