As before, a point separates the competitors at the top of the Premier League. The match in Manchester was a spectacle that showed the exceptional position of both teams.
The coaches Jürgen Klopp (left) and Pep Guardiola also saw an outstandingly good football game.
Perhaps it’s no exaggeration to think of Jurgen Klopp as a man for impossible missions. He once turned Mainz 05 into an established Bundesliga team, he revitalized Borussia from Dortmund and in the last six and a half years he has even led Liverpool FC to its former glory.
In the last few weeks, this season has also been characterized by the special ability of the Swabian charismatic: Klopp reduced the gap to the leader Manchester City by ten points to just one point with the Reds, which is why the top game was under very special circumstances. And so both teams went into the match with a commitment that is rarely seen even at this level. Intensity, playfulness, tactical disposition, toughness and brilliantly played goals: Manchester’s 2-2 draw can serve as a benchmark for all the criteria that make up top-class football.
Mahrez forgives twice
It was more Manchester City that could quarrel after the final whistle. The greater opportunities lay with the team of coach Pep Guardiola, although Liverpool always looked for their chance. Riyad Mahrez alone had the opportunity to decide the game for Manchester City. First, the Algerian hit the outside of the post with a late free-kick, then he tried to lob the ball into the empty goal from which Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson had already stormed, but the ball just skimmed over the crossbar.
Likewise, Manchester had come into the match better. Only a few minutes were enough for the team to dupe Liverpool for the first time; the pace of the attack overwhelmed the Liverpool defence, Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne scoring the lead. Pep Guardiola’s method of countering the incessantly attacking Liverpool was as simple as it was effective: with long, well-aimed passes, the Citizens managed time and again to thrust into the back of the Liverpool defence, with Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson also excelling at this could. Probably no other goalkeeper plays long-distance passes with such precision, resulting in new tactical variations.
Jota and Mané score for Liverpool
Liverpool’s response was almost a mirror image, and it followed in the 13th minute: Andrew Robertson played a long pass down the wing, which Trent Alexander-Arnold extended into the center where Portugal’s Diogo Jota was waiting for his chance – he had from close range no effort to make. The renewed lead of the Citizens by Gabriel Jesus equalized Sadio Mané shortly after the break.
Both coaches left no stone unturned to decide the match. Later, Pep Guardiola brought English winger Jack Grealish into play, but he no longer had a decisive effect. The reaction of the two competing coaches after the final whistle testifies to collegial recognition. And rightly so: they, too, had seen an outstandingly good football game.