At times the heavy metal that Liverpool gives off sounded. In others, a more harmonious melody, to the rhythm of the precise ballet that Manchester City radiates. Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola performed their last dance in the Premier in the rain at Anfield, the umpteenth ode to football in a historic rivalry.
As if it were a wink towards the German and the Catalan, the result did not produce losers and winners, but a tie that equally honors the great contribution of both to English football since 2016. The distribution of points, after the goals from Stones and Mac Allister from a penalty, smiles at Arsenal, who are tied with Liverpool and with one more point than the cityzens.
At this point, everyone knew the script of the game: the eternal battle between the suffocating net pressure and the skyblue possession. At first the visitors imposed their virtues. The locals, with key casualties, woke up with two attempts by Núñez. Those from Merseyside seemed to have the upper hand until City's goal came, from Stones in a rehearsed play in a corner. Aké blocked Mac Allister and the Englishman finished De Bruyne's cross at the near post. Liverpool reacted with intensity, but City cooled the duel and the result until half-time.
Liverpool found the goal prize in the first play of the second half thanks to an error by Aké, who gave a short back pass to Ederson who committed a clear penalty on Núñez. Mac Allister beat the Brazilian from the spot, later replaced due to injury. With the goal, he returned the steamroller net. Salah, who was in the middle of cotton, went out onto the field and in his first action he created a one-on-one that Luis Díaz failed. Ortega later saved Núñez's free shot.
By then the game was already out of control, partly due to the change of De Bruyne. As if it were a tribute, Guardiola entrusted himself to the madness that Klopp likes so much. The arrivals followed one another, especially those from Liverpool against a City without news of Haaland.
Quansah provoked another save from Ortega. Foden, with a comical rebound, sent the ball to the crossbar and Doku shot the post in the 88th minute, shortly before hitting Mac Allister's chest with his studs in a play that could have meant the second net penalty. In the end, a draw and an iconic hug between Klopp and Guardiola after their 23rd meeting in England. The balance is 8 draws, 8 wins for Liverpool and 7 wins for City waiting for a possible epilogue in the FA Cup.
Check the Premier League standings.
Liverpool: Caoimhin Kelleher; Conor Bradley (Andy Robertson, m.61), Jarell Quansah, Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez; Dominik Szoboszlai (Mohamed Sala, m.61), Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister; Harvey Elliott, Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez (Cody Gakpo, m.76).
Manchester City: Ederson (Stefan Ortega, m.56); Kyle Walker, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Aké; Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne (Mateo Kovacic, m.69); Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Julián Álvarez (Jeremy Doku, m.69); and Erling Haaland.
Goals: 0-1, m.25: John Stones. 1-1, m.50: Alexis Mac Allister, penalty.
Referee: Michael Oliver. He showed a yellow card to Rodri, Ederson and Bernardo Silva, from Manchester City.
Incidents: match on the twenty-eighth round of the Premier League played at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool in front of around 60,000 spectators.
