Sports
How Man City, Liverpool Settled For 1-1
By Ekene Dike
Manchester City and Liverpool got a point apiece following a 1-1 stalemate at the Etihad Stadium.
With the quality possessed by both sides, the game began in an intriguing manner. Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola were bent on landing the killer blow in the opening minutes of the game.
Roberto Firmino’s run into the box breached Manchester City’s defense four minutes into the game as he got picked out by Alexander Arnold with a sublime pass. But Firmino failed to dribble past Ederson and the chance got wasted.
That missed opportunity didn’t dampen Liverpool from playing fast attacking football.
Twelve minutes into the game, Liverpool took a well-deserved lead, when Mohammed Salah scored from the penalty spot after Kyle Walker brought down Sadio Mane in the box. The Egyptian magician made it five goals from five penalty attempts.
Manchester City were now saddled with a daunting task of drawing level and snatching the lead after going behind in a match that was played inside the rain.
They handled the pressure well as Belgian playmaker carved out a chance for Raheem Sterling, which he squandered.
Kevin De Bruyne did well again in the 33rd minute as he provided an assist for Gabriel Jesus’ that turned into a well taken equalizer.
A deft first touch from De Bruyne’s pass created space for him to slot it past Alisson Becker in Liverpool’s goal.
Pep Guardiola’s outfit became more confident as the game went on. For their relentless efforts they won a penalty as Kevin De Bruyne’s pass struck the hand of Joe Gomez.
However, De Bruyne couldn’t do what Salah had done earlier in the game and he missed the golden opportunity to put Manchester City ahead from the penalty spot.
Going into the break, the teams were at 1-1.
There was a dip in terms of quality in the second half. This time, the teams were cagey and struggled to create chances. Liverpool’s game plan was endangered when Alexander Arnold was forced to leave the pitch prematurely, shortly after resumption on account of an injury. A more defensive minded James Milner had to be introduced for Liverpool.
The only clear-cut chance of the half fell for Liverpool’s man in form Diogo Jota. Surprisingly, his shot was tame, much to the delight of Ederson who made a comfortable save.
Manchester City as well were not efficacious in front of goal and the two best teams in the land in the last session eventually settled for a 1-1 draw for a game that was more or less played from the dugout by Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.
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