Erling Haaland scored a dramatic 93rd-minute penalty as Manchester City pulled off a stunning comeback against Liverpool to keep the Premier League title race alive.
A battling win for Pep Guardiola’s second-placed side cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to six points, with 13 games remaining.
Bernardo Silva’s 84th-minute equaliser had initially cancelled out Dominik Szoboszlai’s superb free-kick 10 minutes earlier.
Then in added time, Matheus Nunes was bundled over inside the box by Liverpool keeper Alisson and referee Craig Pawson pointed to the spot.
Haaland made no mistake, as he scored his 21st Premier League goal of the season to send the visiting fans wild.
City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma then made a brilliant save to deny Alexis Mac Allister – a minute before City had the ball in the net again through Rayan Cherki’s finish from inside his own half, with Alisson out of his goal after supporting his side’s attack.
But the effort was ruled out after a video assistant referee (VAR) check, with Szoboszlai instead sent off in the 13th minute of added time for fouling Haaland before the ball rolled in, and a free-kick awarded to City instead.
Either way, it didn’t matter as City won at Anfield for the first time since 2021, but in front of fans for a first time since 2003.
City dominated possession in the first half but failed to make it count by taking their chances, with Alisson making a good block to deny Haaland in the first minute and again later in the half.
Their front three of Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush constantly asked Liverpool’s defence questions but lacked that ruthlessness in front of goal.
It took 25 minutes for Arne Slot’s side to have an attempt on goal themselves, but they were much better after the break, with Hugo Ekitike twice coming close to the opener.
First, his right-footed strike went narrowly wide with Donnarumma beaten, and minutes later, Salah found Ekitike with a superb sliced cross but the Frenchman’s header drifted agonisingly wide.
With a draw no good for City, the game opened up and Ruben Dias came close with a shot, before Florian Wirtz was denied by a terrific block from Marc Guehi at the other end.
Somehow the game remained goalless until the 74th minute when Szoboszlai stepped up to score his ninth goal of the campaign with an absolute belter from a set-piece – in the same manner that he did against Arsenal here in August.
It was hit from around 30 yards and swerved inside the post, leaving Donnarumma static and helpless.
But unlike that day when Liverpool held on for victory, City showed tremendous resilience to complete a memorable comeback.
With speculation about his future, it remains to be seen if Guardiola has managed his last game for City at Anfield.
But if he has, he will end with a rare win. This was his 11th visit and his only previous win (D3 L6) came here in 2021, when the game was played without fans due to the pandemic.
This also completed a notable first league double over their rivals since the 1936-37 campaign.
Liverpool analysis: Reds fail to hold on after Szoboszlai stunner
Once Szoboszlai scored a goal worthy of winning many a football match, Liverpool should not have lost this game.
Slot’s side were poor in the first half, but looked a different force in the second period, with Salah, Wirtz and Ekitike all growing into the game.
Szoboszlai’s strike left most of the ground in disbelief, with Ibrahima Konate holding his hands on his head.
But, yet again, Liverpool failed to see the game out.
Only this time, it went from bad to worse when Alisson made a poor decision to bring Nunes crashing down for the penalty.
Liverpool have now conceded four 90th-minute winners in league matches this season – the joint-most by a team in a single Premier League campaign after Watford in 2017-18, West Ham in 2021-22, Watford again in 2021-22, and Southampton in 2024-25.
And with Szoboszlai dismissed – as he grabbed Haaland’s shirt to prevent the Norwegian striker making sure Cherki’s shot went in – and banned for Wednesday’s game against Sunderland, it remains to be seen who could fill in at right-back.
Guardiola had spoken pre-match about the power of Anfield and how it was a stage that called for big personalities to make a difference.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, it was City who turned up in numbers on that front when it mattered most.
Slot’s side are now four points behind fifth-placed Chelsea. There’s still a long way to go, but it would be inexplicable if the current champions failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
