Sadio Mane’s crucial second-half equaliser kept Liverpool in the Premier League title race in a tense 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
In January, Jurgen Klopp’s team trailed City by 14 points, but a 10-game winning streak narrowed the difference to just one point, setting up a title decider at the Etihad Stadium.
In a thrilling start, Diogo Jota cancelled out Kevin De Bruyne’s opening, and Mane quickly followed suit after the break, thanks to Gabriel Jesus’ 36th-minute strike.
Both teams were unable to find a winner, with a goal by Raheem Sterling being disallowed, as Pep Guardiola’s side maintained their slim advantage with seven games remaining.
Following a square Jesus pass, Sterling missed a golden chance after five minutes when he was denied by the onrushing Alisson, but City were ahead seconds later.
De Bruyne took advantage of a fast Bernardo Silva free-kick before arrowing home a left-footed strike off the right post after a fortunate deflection from Joel Matip.
Within eight minutes, Liverpool equalized when Andy Robertson found Trent Alexander-Arnold, who sent the ball back from the far post for Jota to slide a low strike past Ederson.
Before Jesus grabbed onto a Joao Cancelo cross and coolly scored via the underside of the crossbar, De Bruyne blasted just wide in pursuit of his second.
Within a minute of the second half starting, Mane equalized, racing onto Mohamed Salah’s throughball and slotting strongly past Ederson, who then denied Jota’s prodded effort.
Sterling believed he had put the hosts back in front, but a VAR check revealed he was offside when De Bruyne passed the ball to him, while Salah curled narrowly wide at the other end.
Riyad Mahrez, a late substitute, gave the visitors a scare when he clipped the crossbar with a free-kick and then chipped over following a magnificent De Bruyne ball, but there was no crucial goal.
Source: livescore news
The spirit of winning dwells within these two teams. No wonder they split the points.