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Manchester City came back to draw 1-1 with Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday night.
Liverpool got off to a fast start and Sadio Mane won a penalty in the first 10 minutes, which was duly buried by Mohamed Salah. Gabriel Jesus scored the tie at the half hour mark, however, with a fine touch on the spin and finish.
Kevin de Bruyne had a golden opportunity to put City ahead after a penalty was awarded at the other end just before the break, but sent his effort wide to leave the scoreboard locked at the break.
Both teams were much more cautious in the second half as the field became heavier in the constant rain, leaving the shared points at the end of 90 minutes.
Here are five things we learned from the game at the Etihad Stadium.
There was a direct confrontation on the field with two players who have recently been injured: City without a center forward, Liverpool without a second senior center-back.
Gabriel Jesús and Joel Matip made a fresh start here, often clashing with each other and with mixed results in turn.
The former Cameroonian international cleared one of Raheem Sterling’s line, with Jesús expecting a setback, while the Brazilian forward accelerated a deflected second-half header after escaping from the two in the middle.
Jesus’ tie, however, was a moment of true class; joined Trent Alexander-Arnold in place of a center-back, slapped the defender with his first touch and scored the goal.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had faced a pre-game dilemma over the choice of forwards.
In the end, it was all of them: Diogo Jota right back, Sadio Mane left, Roberto Firmino and Salah in front.
There were chances for all four, Firmino notably opting not to pitch Ederson in the opening seconds, and the tactical shift involved in starting each of them showed that Klopp is happy and capable of altering the team as needed.
In future games, he will likely give the Reds an extra goal threat from the bench rather than starting with the quartet in place, but they certainly gave City some first-half problems to fix.
Jota and De Bruyne in action
(Fake images)
The speed of both teams in engaging players forward immediately after gaining possession, and their ability to exchange passes and open up scoring opportunities, demonstrated precisely why they have been the best two on earth for the past three years.
It took City a little while to take over matters in midfield, but after a change in position from Rodri, they were able to find him with the first ball off defense more often and overwhelm the Reds in center.
For their part, Liverpool advanced with four or more after winning the ball in midfield, winning their penalty and creating opportunities in abundance thanks to the speed and intelligence of the movements.
These are comfortably the best England teams in transition and while the second half did not quite live up to the power and pace of the first, it was still a general demonstration of why the rest of the league succumbs so often to defeat in the face of these rivals.
England’s right-backs refocus
There are so many of them that it seems like game by game we have Premier League matches with at least one possible right-back from England, but here are two of the most important options.
Kyle Walker seems more perceived as a third central defender option for Gareth Southgate, but one of his last outings for England saw him give away a penalty, and the same happened here with a rather unnecessary and obvious foul.
Still, he might feel his chances increase a bit, as Trent Alexander-Arnold was injured.
It wasn’t the Liverpool man’s best outing of the season, but with Virgil van Dijk already absent from the bottom line, his creative outlet being sidelined with an apparent calf injury will only make things more difficult, and Southgate will presumably now recur. to Reece James first in the next two weeks.
De Bruyne misses his penalty
(POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Liverpool entered the top of the table for weekend games, only to be usurped by Southampton on Friday night.
Then Tottenham took over the lead for the next two hours, and Leicester achieved their own start to the season by becoming leader before this titanic fight at the Etihad.
The Reds couldn’t get back to the top with a win of their own, but sitting one point first, with leader Leicester playing at home next and their toughest game of the season already out of the way – Jurgen Klopp will probably see all of that. as a fair deal for the 1-1 draw.
The city has a lot of ground to make up, but at least they have the game in hand to wait, if another game that fits somewhere on the calendar can be seen as a positive.
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