Ronay on Foden.
David Hytner’s match report has landed, so it’s time to wrap up this blog. Thanks for your company and emails - goodnight!
A weary Phil Foden speaks
“It’s one of the most difficult grounds to play at and I thought we dealt with it really well today. Yeah man, the game had it all - it was end to end at times, such a brilliant game. We’re happy to get a draw and another day we could have got three points. I had a couple of chances myself, Kev had a header at the back post, so it was quite disappointing not to go in at half-time ahead.
“[Talking about the penalty appeal in the first half] I’m an honest guy, I don’t like to go down when I get fouled. I try to stay on my feet. I’d like to see a referee give a free-kick or a penalty, whatever it was. It happened, it’s football and I thought we dealt with it well. We showed our character when we went behind. We carried on playing our football, we didn’t look bothered. [On the goal] There wasn’t much room to get it across goal, so I just put my laces through it and hoped for the best!”
I may have given Kyle Walker a bit too much credit for City’s second goal. I thought he flicked it behind his front leg to divert it towards De Bruyne, but having seen a replay I think he missed it and it came off a Liverpool defender.
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Here’s the updated Premier League table. Two points separating the top six, Brighton and Brentford flying high: for the neutral in particular, it’s been a helluva start to the season.
“This has been one of the best second halves ever,” says Mary Waltz. “I usually don’t like draws but 2-2 is only fair. What a match.”
In the circumstances, I think we can forgive the hyperbole. It was sheer delightful entertainment.
Guardiola and Klopp embrace warmly at the end. Pep has calmed down a bit since his blistering meltdown, and both teams will be happy enough with a point - Liverpool because they were totally outplayed in the first half, City because they went behind twice. It was the most exhilarating second half, with memorable contributions from Mo Salah and Phil Foden in particular.
Full time: Liverpool 2-2 Man City
And the winner is... Chelsea.
90+4 min De Bruyne’s corner is poor and Robertson heads clear.
90+3 min Salah, tracking Joao Cancelo’s run forward, heads behind for one last City corner...
90+3 min City break dangerously, only for De Bruyne to misplace a through pass towards Walker. A lot of the players are moving pretty slowly now - I’m sure tiredness is a factor but it also looks like a very heavy pitch.
90+1 min De Bruyne puts Sterling clear in the inside-left channel, but he looks like he’s running in slow motion and Gomez is able to get back. Sterling looks up and picks out Jesus, who waits for the ball to bounce and cracks a shot that is blocked by Robertson.
90 min The game is still pretty open, with no sign that either team has settled for a draw. There will be four minutes of added time.
89 min Gary Neville has given the man of the match award to two players, Salah and Foden.
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86 min: Off the line by Rodri! Salah, who has been electric in the second half, is fouled by Bernardo Silva on the right wing. Henderson takes the free-kick short to Salah, who clips it into the area. Ederson comes and misses it, which gives Fabinho at the far post what looks like an open goal. He controls the ball and sidefoots it towards the empty net, only for Rodri to appear from nowhere and stretch to make an outstanding block.
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84 min And Kyle Walker blooters it into orbit.
84 min The resulting free-kick is 30 yards from goal, slightly to the right of centre...
83 min Fabinho is booked for a very cynical foul on Bernardo Silva, who had left him and Henderson behind in midfield.
I’ve never seen Pep Guardiola celebrate a goal with such anger. Foden was again involved in the move, breaking into the area from the left. His fast, low cross was diverted ingeniously by the under pressure Walker, back towards De Bruyne on the edge of the area. He curled a left-footed shot that hit the chest of Matip, who was trying to block, and flew into the net. It was on target so it’s De Bruyne’s goal.
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GOAL! Liverpool 2-2 Man City (De Bruyne 81)
What a game! What a sport!
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80 min Pep Guardiola was also booked. He’s still all over the show, ranting in every direction. It’s the second time in three visits to Anfield that Liverpool’s right-back has got away with plenty.
80 min Sterling underhits a cross towards Foden, in space at the far post, and Gomez puts it behind for a corner. That wa a chance.
78 min A Liverpool substitution: Joe Gomez replaces, yep, James Milner.
78 min Bernardo Silva was booked in the aftermath of the goal, and Paul Tierney also had a word with a still fuming Pep Guardiola.
This is pure genius from Mo Salah. He received the ball on the right wing, surrounded by City players, and immediately his brain started to problem solve. He held off Cancelo, ignored a little push from Foden, dragged the ball past Bernardo Silva and then chopped away from Laporte in the area. By then the angle was extremely tight, but he pinged an emphatic shot with his right foot that beat Ederson and nestled in the far corner. That is quite glorious.
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GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Man City (Salah 76)
WHAT A FREAKING GOAL!
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75 min If it stays like this Chelsea will be top of the Premier League, with Liverpool in second and City third.
74 min Pep’s noggin has completely gone! This is great stuff. He’s giving the fourth official Mike Dean all sorts, his eyes ablaze with injusice.
73 min Pep Guardiola is absolutely steaming. With good reason: it was a clear yellow-card offence.
73 min Milner, on a yellow card, fouls Bernardo Silva and is very lucky not to get sent off. Pep Guardiola is fuming.
Phil Foden has now scored more goals against Liverpool (3) than any other club in his career.
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 3, 2021
Back-to-back Anfield goals. 😤 pic.twitter.com/CWMIDv35CY
Jeez, he took that well. Jesus cut infield from the right, escaped a couple of woolly challenges 25 yards from goal and curled a pass towards Foden on the left side of the area. His first touch took the ball into the space but also made the angle pretty narrow. No matter: Foden drilled a shot back across Alisson and into the far corner. He’s been City’s best attacker and really deserves that goal.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Man City (Foden 69)
The Anfield specialist Phil Foden equalises with a ruthless finish!
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68 min A Liverpool substitution: Roberto Firmino replaces Diogo Jota, who had a fairly quiet game but did energise Liverpool at the start of the second half.
67 min De Bruyne sprays a beautiful crossfield pass to Jesus onthe left edge of the area. He hits a fairly unconvincing shot that is blocked by Milner and dribbles through to Alisson.
66 min “Right,” says Matt Dony. “1-0. Cool heads, fellas. Take it to the corner. Wind down the last 25 minutes. Has anyone mentioned that City could use a striker?”
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66 min A change for City: Raheem Sterling replaces Jack Grealish, who had a disappointing game.
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65 min Jota is booked for a foul on De Bruyne.
65 min Liverpool’s tempo has been much better since half-time. And the game has been a lot more emotional, which certainly favours them.
63 min Salah’s free-kick takes a deflection and goes a few yards wide of the near post.
62 min Rodri fouls Robertson 25 yards from goal, and at the moment it’s all Liverpool.
61 min Mane almost gets in again, this time after a long ball from the back. Ederson comes out of his area to clear.
60 min “I am a fan of one of these teams and thought we got away with one when Milner tripped Foden,” says Niall Nullen. “But it’s not a red card, and, as for being outrageous, I guess such is the hyperbolic parlance of our times.”
That’s the worst email I’ve ever read mate.
City missed their chances, Liverpool have taken theirs. Salah ignored a half-arsed challenge from Cancelo on the halfway line and then charged away from Bernardo Silva. Mane made a great run from left to centre, across Dias, and Salah put him through with an immaculately weighted pass. Mane’s first-time finish was clinical, sidefooted across Ederson and into the far corner. That’s a terrific goal.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Man City (Mane 59)
Sadio Mane gives Liverpool the lead!
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58 min “After watching the loss against PSG, I am surprised to see Grealish starting,” says Nas Iqbal. “Pep clearly thinks he brings something to that forward line but he seems to just take the sting out of the City attacks and lacks any intensity. Am I missing something?”
I know what you mean, and it’ll probably take him a few months to adjust to Peplife. But the more he plays the better he’ll get, and he is still a glorious footballer.
56 min Cancelo is booked for tripping Milner.
54 min Jota surges into space and plays a long square pass to Salah. He runs at Cancelo and goes down right on the edge of the area. Paul Tierney isn’t interested, nor does Salah appeal. The latter is a bit of a surprise because Cancelo did make contact, though probably not enough for a penalty in October 2021.
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53 min Jota moves out to the left and is fouled by Walker. These are promising signs for Liverpool after such a difficult first half.
50 min: Good save from Ederson! Matip fires a pass into Jota on the edge of the area. His first touch is delightful, a Cruyff turn away from Dias, and his second is a rasping left-footed shot that Ederson dives to his left to beat away. It wasn’t right in the corner, which made it an ultimately comfortable save for Ederson.
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49 min Rodri loses the ball to Henderson in a dangerous area. Jota picks it up, moves to the edge of the area and twists away from a couple of sliding City defenders, but Dias stays on his feet and pokes the ball away.
47 min Salah plays a good pass to the underlapping Milner, whose fast cross is well held by Ederson.
46 min Peep peep! City begin the second half. No changes on either side, so James Milner is still out there.
“I am a fan of neither of these teams but I think that non-call when Milner deliberately gave a little shove and also used a leg to knock the sprinting Foden’s right leg into his left leg was outrageous,” says J.R. in Illinois. “Whether or not the foul(s) were in the penalty area, that’s a red card for me. No attempt to play the ball and he was the last man (Matip was nearby but behind and was never going to be able to intervene). And to bring the VAR angle into it, I think it was obviously a missed/wrong call. VAR is supposed to do something about obvious errors, innit?”
That’s interesting. I was so preoccupied with whether it was a penalty that I didn’t even consider a red card. Another replay please, Sky Sports!
“The level of City dominance is scary,” says Yash Gupta. “Surprised by Klopp’s tactics, to leave Milner alone against Foden. Someone on Twitter said this the other day - the art of dinking the ball over the keeper has gone, and it is quite sad. Haven’t watched 90s Serie A but some say that was the golden era.”
It was a golden era of just about everything.
Half-time reading
Half time: Liverpool 0-0 Man City
Peep peep! City have played with intimidating authority and should be a couple of goals ahead. Alisson made two vital saves from Phil Foden, who is destroying the replacement right-back James Milner, and Kevin De Bruyne missed an excellent headed chance.
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45 min One minute of added time.
44 min: Vital tackle from Alisson! Ederson wafts an outrageous 70-yard pass to put Foden through on goal in the inside-left channel. He tries to go round Alisson, who is off balance but sticks out his right leg to make a goalsaving tackle. Foden is giving Liverpool all sorts of problems.
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43 min “Milner, I’m sad to say, looks a bit like Gary Neville that time against West Brom,” says Niall Mullen.
42 min Milner is booked for a desperate foul on Foden.
42 min Jesus slides a terrific pass towards the underlapping Walker in the area. He tries to cut it back to Grealish, and Matip steps across to make an important interception.
41 min “This is looking like one of those classic performances where City are brilliant but forget to score, then get mugged,” says Paul Ruffley. “Again.”
40 min De Bruyne has another shot blocked, this time by van Dijk, after being found in a bit of space by Jesus.
🎙️ "It was a magical run, it really was."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 3, 2021
Wonderful work from Bernardo Silva, but Alisson denies Phil Foden!
📺 #LIVMCI on Sky Sports Premier League pic.twitter.com/D7J0dLbsaf
38 min After another dangerous break from Foden, De Bruyne has a shot on the turn blocked by a Liverpool defender. City are battering Liverpool 0-0.
37 min Liverpool just can’t get going. They’ve also played quite a few long balls, more than usual, which means Fabinho and Curtis Jones haven’t got on the ball as much as they would like.
34 min: Great chance for De Bruyne! City are well on top now. Bernardo Silva stabs a simple pass down the left to Foden, who swings a deep cross towards De Bruyne at the far post. He runs off Mane, into all sorts of space, but sends a stooping header over the bar. He should have scored.
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33 min The more I see that penalty appeal, the more I think City have a case. Milner caught Foden just outside the box, but I’m pretty sure he caught him again just inside the area. I suppose the counter argument is that it wasn’t a clear and obvious error, which is fair enough.
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32 min It looks like the contact was just outside the area. It was a foul, though. I assumed there was a VAR check but that hasn’t been confirmed, so who knows. Just after the penalty appeal, Grealish wafted high and wide from a very tight angle, but he was offside.
31 min: VAR check! Foden goes down in the area after a challenge from Milner. No penalty, says Paul Tierney, but it will be checked. My gut feeling is that it was a penalty last season, maybe not this.
30 min Henderson gives the assistant referee a mouthful, a reflection of Liverpool’s increasing frustrating. They haven’t been able to get any momentum in the game - or, apart from the 30 seconds either side of that Robertson tackle, any emotion.
29 min Foden hurdles Henderson classily and threads a ball into the space, only to realise that De Bruyne had stopped running.
27 min Robertson gets the crowd going with a ferocious (and fair) tackle on Gabriel Jesus.
26 min Dias is booked for a cynical foul on Jota.
26 min “Liverpool look a bit leggy in midfield,” says Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
26 min “Is there a better player this season in the PL than Bernardo Silva?” asks Richard Harris. “I can’t think of one.”
Yoane Wissa, next.
24 min: Chance for De Bruyne! This is an excellent spell for City. Cancelo cuts inside from the left and plays a short angled pass to De Bruyne, surging beyond Henderson and into the area. He takes it first time, on his left foot, and cracks a cross shot wide of the far post. The angle was pretty tight by the time he made contact.
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21 min: Great save from Alisson! Bernardo Silva leads Liverpool a merry dance, beating Robertson (twice), Henderson, Fabinho and van Dijk in a remarkable piece of escapology. Then he slides an angled pass through to Foden in the inside-left channel. Foden controls it on the run and drives a low shot that is blocked at the near post by Alisson. That’s a really good save, but the run from Bernardo was outrageous.
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20 min “Positions of Silva and De Bruyne have been changed too,” says Yash Gupta. “About Man City safe passing, I think its also down to Henderson’s position - he’s playing further up the pitch than what City were expecting.”
19 min City work the corner short before Grealish clips it across to De Bruyne in space 30 yards from goal. He lofts it over the outrushing defence towards Foden, who heads well wide on the stretch. He was offside anyway.
19 min After a poor clearance from Alisson, who had such a nightmare in this fixture last season, Gabriel Jesus wins another corner for City.
17 min Bernardo Silva stands up a deep cross from the left that is headed behind by Robertson. Foden’s dangerous inswinger is punched away well by Alisson, who had to deal not only with City players but also a low sun.
15 min Cancelo finds Grealish in a bit of space on the left. He runs at Matip, who backpedals into the area, but hits a relatively tame shot that is blocked. I’m surprised he didn’t try to take Matip on, especially once he got into the penalty area.
13 min City are defending deep, in contrast to their approach at Chelsea last week. At times, not least in the first half at the Etihad last season, these teams have gone toe to toe in exhilarating fashion. So far today there has been a whole lotta mutual respect.
10 min Gary Neville makes the point that the movement of City’s front three hasn’t been great, which is one reason why the passing has been relatively safe.
9 min City’s passing so far has been methodical and a bit on the safe side.
7 min Henderson wins a corner on the right. Milner’s outswinger beats everyone in the middle and comes to Salah on the far side. He takes a touch and whistles a half-volley that is blocked by Grealish.
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6 min Liverpool are starting to stir. Van Dijk hits a crisp pass into Jota, who turns and tries to play Mane through. The pass is slightly overhit and Ederson claims. It was a promising move though, and a good off-the-ball run from Mane.
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5 min Milner’s dangerous cross is headed away well by Laporte, under pressure at the near post.
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5 min It’s been a fairly cagey start from Liverpool, not the onslaught many people expected. City have had most of the ball, most of it in the middle third.
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3 min De Bruyne moves dangerously through midfield and slides a pass towards Foden on the left. He’s offside, and that’s the end of that.
1 min City have started with Foden on the left, Jesus on the right and Jack Grealish as a false nine. Oh, Pep.
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1 min Peep peep! Liverpool kick off from left to right.
The players gather round the centre circle to pay tribute Roger Hunt, who died last week aged 83. A class act, on and off the field, and Sir Kenny Dalglish is among those struggling to hold back tears.
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City are first out of the tunnel, to a chorus of boos. Then come the Liverpool players, led by Jordan Henderson. This, by any measure, is a huge game.
A reminder Liverpool go top if they go win; City go top if they win by two goals.
“As an ever-pessimistic Liverpool fan I fancy City today,” tubthumps Niall Mullen. “And, if they do win away at Chelsea and Liverpool on successive weekends, then we might as well all pack up and go home.”
Not sure I agree with that. It’s only a couple of weeks since City were a bit lucky to draw at home to Southampton. I can’t see any of the big three breaking away, certainly not this side of Christmas.
“This should be a good test for Curtis Jones,” says Mike MacKenzie. “Will be interesting to see if he can repeat his Porto performance against a very good team.”
I barely noticed he was playing. I mean that as a compliment – often a young player stands out on the teamsheet for a game against someone like City, because you fear it might be too much. But everything we’ve seen from Jones so far suggests he belongs at this level.
“This City line-up doesn’t look right,” says Yash Gupta. “No odd changes, not a single player out of position, what’s Pep thinking? By the way Son had a brilliant performance today. What a player! Possibly his best display.”
He’s such a joyful player. His dip in form last season was one of the main reasons it all went wrong for Mourinho.
Sky Sports are suggesting Phil Foden will be City’s No9, not Gabriel Jesus. That’s where Foden played at Anfield last season, though from memory he had moved out to the right before he ran riot in the last 20 minutes.
There’s been plenty of drama already in the Premier League, including a 94th-minute winner for Brentford, glorious Brentford, at West Ham. These are the final scores in the early games:
- Crystal Palace 2-2 Leicester
- Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa
- West Ham 1-2 Brentford
Team news
No big surprises on either side. Diogo Jota is preferred up front to Roberto Firmino, who came off the bench to score twice in the 5-1 win in Porto, in an unchanged Liverpool side. James Milner continues at right-back, in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, and should be up against Jack Grealish.
It looks like Manchester City’s front three will be Grealish, Gabriel Jesus and Phil Foden, though you can never be quite sure with Pep in a big game. Foden and Jesus are the only changes from City’s defeat in Paris on Wednesday; they replace Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling. It’s the same XI that played so well at Chelsea last weekend.
Liverpool (4-1-2-3) Alisson; Milner, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho; Henderson, Jones; Salah, Jota, Mane.
Substitutes: Kelleher, Konate, Gomez, Tsimikas, N Williams, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Firmino, Minamino.
Manchester City (4-1-2-3) Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri; Silva, De Bruyne; Jesus, Foden, Grealish.
Substitutes: Steffen, Carson, Stones, Ake, Fernandinho, Palmer, Sterling, Torres, Mahrez.
Referee Paul Tierney.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Liverpool v Manchester City at Anfield. In the last few years this has been the most mouthwatering match in England, maybe the world. Chelsea are European champions, Manchester United finished second last season - but Liverpool and City are still the teams to beat. The recent matches have had almost everything: thrashings, nailbiters, respect, petulance, meltdowns, genius, mistakes, controversy, airborne penalties, 1.12 centimetres, the works.
City’s last two trips to Anfield - a 3-1 defeat in November 2019 and a 4-1 win in February - were rich in symbolism; on both occasions, it was the day the title race turned into a procession. That won’t be the case this time, whatever happens, but both teams can go top of the table this afternoon. A dominant win for either would be a profound statement of title-winning intent.
Kick off 4.30pm.
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