Liverpool breaks City's amazing streak at their stadium

A long-range shot from Trent Alexander-Arnold, with 10 minutes left, saved a point for Liverpool on their visit to the Premier League leader's lair. The success of the full-back, highly demanded in defense throughout the afternoon by Jeremy Doku, frustrated the victory of Manchester City, who had taken the lead thanks to Erling Haaland. With that goal, the Norwegian becomes the fastest player to reach 50 goals in the Premier League, where he has only needed 48 games and where only Brentford managed to stop him.. [Narrative and statistics (1-1)]

It was the end of the streak for Pep Guardiola's team, which had won the last 23 consecutive games in its fiefdom.. However, Liverpool left the Etihad Stadium with the bittersweet aftertaste of having added the three points.. “If we had played really well today, we could have won. We didn't do it, since we played only well,” stressed Jurgen Klopp, who has never tasted victory at the Citizen Stadium.

Haaland's voracity, added to Ederson's soft hands, could have decided the fate of the match. His low cross shot was enough to destroy Andy Cole's previous record, which had required 65 games to reach fifty goals in the Premier.

Núñez's threat

In the local area all the danger passed through Darwin Núñez, much more effective than a Mohamed Salah with his sights diverted. Ederson had to clear a good header from the Uruguayan that would have been enough for the Reds to make it 0-1, after the first quarter of an hour. However, the disadvantage weighed heavily on the six-time European champion..

After the break, the duel seemed more inclined towards a 2-0 than a draw, with Alexander-Arnold struggling to contain Doku's counterattacks. Klopp moved the bench and brought on Cody Gapko, Ryan Gravenberch and Luis Díaz. A special afternoon for the Colombian winger, with his father present in the stands, just a few days after being released from his kidnapping.

Guardiola, “very proud”

And the action of 1-1 happened through the boots of the Barranquilla footballer, since Díaz started the play that Alexander-Arnold would crown with the shot into the net. City's final siege, which closed the afternoon with 16 shots, eight of them well directed, and nine corner kicks, was fruitless. It was their first puncture at home since December 31, 2022, when a goal from Demarai Gray saved a 1-1 for Everton.

Despite the setback, Guardiola was “very proud to continue playing like this” after eight years on the Etihad bench.. “We were very good in all aspects. We needed it against an incredible rival,” concluded the Santpedor coach.. In this way, the formidable record established by Tom Watson's Sunderland, who between December 1890 and April 1892 achieved 24 victories at their Newcastle Road stadium, remains safe.