(Football news) John Stones put the champions ahead with a masterfully executed set piece to start the last chapter in the managers’ gripping top-flight rivalry, but the hosts responded with a penalty kick from Alexis Mac Allister early in the second half.
For the rest of the game, Liverpool struggled and had plenty of chances to pull off an incredible comeback, but in a frantic encounter, they were beset by profligacy as Arsenal supporters celebrated their team finishing the weekend at the top of the table.
Despite coming off the bench against Sparta Prague in the Europa League, Mohamed Salah did not meet the starting threshold for Klopp, who also benched Andrew Robertson and was without Ibrahima Konate entirely.
Far from full strength, Liverpool struggled to settle during an explosive start to proceedings, where Caoimhin Kelleher got down low to stop Julian Alvarez’s drive from a tight angle in the third minute, before Kevin De Bruyne went for a cheeky lob in the eighth minute but saw his attempt drift over the top.
Liverpool soon found their groove, though, and the ball was in the back of Ederson’s net in the 19th minute as Luis Diaz tapped in from Darwin Nunez’s pass, but the Uruguayan was clearly offside.
However, just as the Anfield crowd sensed that a goal may have been coming for their side, they were undone by an ingenious Man City corner in the 23rd minute, as Stones met Kevin De Bruyne’s low, swerving delivery to the near post and prodded the ball past Kelleher.
Nathan Ake played a key role in the set-piece routine, blocking off Mac Allister to prevent the Argentine from clearing De Bruyne’s delivery before it reached Stones, and the officials saw nothing wrong with the Dutchman’s tactics.
A promising chance for Dominik Szoboszlai to respond for Liverpool arrived in the 31st minute, but the Hungarian headed a fraction over the top from Harvey Elliott’s delivery, eight moments before Haaland shot straight at Kelleher after a highly-anticipated one-on-one with Virgil van Dijk.
The champions were guilty of complacency, though, and Diaz found himself in acres of space to let fly inside the D after City had lost possession in the middle, but the Colombian could only shoot wide in the 42nd minute.
The German’s choice to stick rather than twist paid off only two minutes into the second half, when Ederson took out Nunez inside the area after Ake had sold him short with a backpass. Klopp refrained from making any changes at halftime.
The Argentine’s spot kick went in the top corner, but Ederson went the wrong way, hurting himself in the process of giving up the penalty, which Mac Allister took after a little delay.
The injury Ederson had suffered after the penalty incident finally forced him to be replaced by Stefan Ortega, whose opposite number Kelleher showed off his one-on-one skills to deny Foden in the 58th minute, making a great impression at his near post, as Liverpool started to smell blood.
In the ensuing ten minutes, however, the Irishman was reduced to a spectator as a galvanized Liverpool, bolstered by the arrivals of Salah and Robertson, pinned Man City back into their own defensive third and created chance after chance, though none of them really tested Ortega’s gloves.
In the 63rd minute, Salah, who had just been introduced, found Diaz running with a beautiful through pass. However, when the Colombian attempted to reach the corner, he opened up too much with his body and missed the mark.
A few yards out from goal, Diaz made a careless touch that let Kyle Walker poke the ball behind. A moment later, Guardiola made a conservative substitution, substituting Mateo Kovacic for an irate De Bruyne.
