Erling scored goal number 50 in 48 games in England, no one like him. But in the end the Reds equalized at the Etihad Stadium
– Manchester
The man of records is not enough this time. Erling Haaland scores 50 career goals in the Premier League in just 48 games, the fastest in history, but City let Liverpool impose a 1-1 draw, with Trent Alexander-Arnold nullifying yet another spell from the team in the 80th minute Cyclone Erling. Guardiola’s team had deserved to win up to that point, but the Reds left the Etihad Stadium with a point (victory has remained taboo since 2015) and confirmation that the 2.0 version of Klopp’s team is strong enough to dream of the title . Even if City, which maintains the one point lead but perhaps not the top (Arsenal, playing at 6.30pm at Brentford’s home, can overtake both), still remains favourites.
THE KEYS
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Alexander-Arnold’s strike, until then the weak link in the Reds defense due to Jeremy Doku, took away three points from City that the champions would have deserved. Because Haaland’s goal, which reached his 14th of the season, was just the tip of the iceberg of a good collective performance, with the Norwegian the first to make himself available to the team. In addition to him and Doku, Bernardo Silva, Guardiola’s brain in the middle of the pitch, and Nathan Aké, who won the duel with Salah in defence, shone. City’s unforgivable mistake was that of not having closed the game: they had the opportunities, but due to enthusiasm, errors and ultimately lack of energy (Guardiola on the bench had no one to ask for a change of gear) it was not managed to realize them, closing the consecutive streak of home victories at 23. Liverpool, on the other hand, straightened out a match that was getting out of hand with character. Behind Alexander-Arnold’s goal is Salah’s intelligence, who waits for his teammate to come on during one of the few moments of slippage in the City defense to serve him the ball when he knows he can do more damage. It was the spark that Liverpool waited for throughout the match, while in defense they suffered from City’s incursions even on a (cold) afternoon with too many uncertainties from Alisson: Dominik Szoboszlai was only creative in the first half before getting lost in the middle on the field like Alexis Mac Allister, who loses almost all his danger in front of the defense. If City ends with the regret of having left two points on the way, Liverpool (unbeaten in 6 games in the Premier League) has found some confirmation and the certainty of being able to improve much further.
THE MATCH
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A couple of thrills for each side before Haaland’s historic stamp in the 27th minute: it comes after a wrong clearance by Alisson, intercepted in the midfield by Aké and transformed into an assist for the cyclone Erling, who the Reds were missing in the personal collection of teams they have scored (only Brentford, among those faced, remains unpunished). Liverpool collected poorly and before the break City were closer to doubling their lead than conceding an equaliser. We start again with the home team ahead 1-0 and Klopp who introduces Diaz (forced substitution due to Jota’s injury) and Gravenberch before the 10th minute. Liverpool are more confident and organized in attack, but City remain a threat. And in control of the match until Alexander-Arnold, assisted by Salah, equalized with an elusive diagonal in the 80th minute. City tries to react and pushes forward, but the result never changes.
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