“We have offered a good game to our fans (of Manchester City), to those of Liverpool, those of England and those of the whole world. We have honored the Premier League”, declared the technical director of the Manchester CityPep Guardiola, on the intensity with which the match between the two teams developed in the 2-2 draw for matchday 38 of the English championship.
The meeting between Manchester City and the Liverpool It was already attractive before they faced each other as they were the two leading teams in the Premier League and the only real candidates for the championship, separated by a point of difference six days before the end of the contest. The definition of the championship was expected in this match and, although both left the Etihad Stadium with the fight open, the footballers were in charge of turning it into a complete show with an immediate spectacle of goals, rhythm and dynamism.
Five minutes into the match, Kevin de Bruyne, midfielder for the Manchester Cityopened the scoring, although minutes later Diogo Jota equalized with an assist from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
According to data from the Twitter account @2010MisterChipFor the first time in the Premier League era, both teams scored goals in the first quarter of an hour of a match between Liverpool and Manchester City. Furthermore, Kevin de Bruyne’s was the earliest goal in a Premier League game between Liverpool and City since 2004, when Michael Owen scored in the third minute.
A cross from Joao Cancelo to Gabriel Jesús, poorly defended by Alexander-Arnold, allowed the Brazilian to score his first Premier League goal in 197 days and regain the lead before the break. However, immediately after returning from the break, 45 seconds into the extra period, Liverpool leveled the score again with a goal from Sadio Mané.
This was the fastest goal scored by an opponent on Manchester City’s ground in the second half of a Premier League game since Damien Francis’ goal for Norwich in 2004, who scored after 13 seconds. It also meant Sadio Mané’s first goal at Manchester City, despite the fact that at home he has scored seven goals for them in nine games.
The defense did its job too, Virgil van Dijk making a great block to deflect a Jesus shot in the 61st minute before Sterling had an attempt disallowed three minutes later for offside following a VAR review.
The ‘Reds’ challenged the ‘Citizens’ at home. In this match, for the first time the Manchester City he scored first and was winless in the Premier League this season. They had won the previous 22 games when they scored first.
The rivalry between the most valuable squads in the Premier League has remained balanced in the era of coaches Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp: they have met 22 times in official competitions with a balance of eight wins for each coach and seven draws.
After the match played that ended in a draw, the difference of one unit remains and although the victory would have made Liverpool’s fight for the title much more difficult, the draw favors City by maintaining the advantage and it depends on itself to lift the trophy.
“We have to be focused on ourselves and win as many games as possible,” Liverpool player Jordan Henderson analyzed about his team’s chances of winning the Premier League.
Next Saturday at Wembley Stadium, on the occasion of the first semi-final of the FA Cup, both teams will face each other again. And there could be a second duel if both teams reach the Champions League final, which will resume on Tuesday with the first leg of the quarterfinals in which both teams have an advantage in their respective keys.
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