By Lori Ewing
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – An 80th-minute goal from Trent Alexander-Arnold secured Liverpool a breathless 1-1 draw with leaders Manchester City on Saturday, keeping Juergen Klopp’s team just a point adrift of the top spot in the tight Premier League title race.
“This is a really tough place to come and it is a not a coincidence they have won I don’t know how many in a row at home. They are a super team,” Klopp told the BBC. “It is a good point and I am absolutely fine with it.”
The draw ended a remarkable 23-game winning stretch at Etihad Stadium across all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s City, who top the table on 29 points after 13 games, and spoiled a record-breaking day for Erling Haaland.
“We haven’t had too many good results here in general. It’s a point gained,” Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports. “It wasn’t an amazing performance from us at all, but we take the point. There were positives – we had chances to win the game.”
The 23-year-old Haaland, who tops the league with 14 goals, became the fastest player to score 50 Premier League goals when he slotted in a left-footed shot after a poor clearance from keeper Allison Becker. He took 48 games to reach the 50 mark, smashing Andy Cole’s record of 65.
The marquee match kicked off the return of the Premier League from the international break, and it did not disappoint, with Alexander-Arnold silencing Etihad’s sea of sky blue supporters in the 80th minute when Mohamed Salah teed him up on the edge of the box for a blistering low shot into the corner.
“The second half was much better than the first half,” Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk told the BBC.
“Obviously we knew we would suffer at times and that is something you have to expect. You have to fight as a team.
“To come away with a point here is obviously not bad. We wanted to win but we didn’t lose, which sounds a bit cliche.”
Haaland’s goal was his first against Liverpool in a City shirt and came despite doubts about the prolific striker’s fitness on Saturday as he withdrew from the Norway squad for their Euro 2024 qualifier against Scotland after picking up an ankle injury in a Nov. 16 friendly against the Faroe Islands.
City, who were missing Jack Grealish due to illness, had a second-half goal by Ruben Dias disallowed after VAR ruled Manuel Akanji had interfered with the keeper.
The home side then peppered keeper Allison Becker with shots in a frenzied final few minutes, including a Haaland header off a corner that sailed just wide of the net.
Liverpool had their chances as well, including an early Darwin Nunez header from Salah’s cross that Ederson had to leap to bat away.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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