And yet the overall outcome was the same. As Liverpool led, it felt as though Arsenal were about to be anointed champions. \u201cThe whole team knew before the game if we lost it then the title race was probably over,\u201d said Bernardo Silva. Instead, he helped revive it. Erling Haaland, policed well by Virgil van Dijk, enduring a frustrating afternoon, suddenly turned catalyst. A manager who had visited Anfield 10 previous times, winning only in lockdown, got the triumph that had always eluded him. \u201cIt is so difficult,\u201d sighed Guardiola. \u201cAnfield is Anfield: the tradition, the history, the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n
His historic triumph had considerable consequences for Liverpool. Dominik Szoboszlai had shaped up as the match-winner and ended up sent off and suspended for Wednesday\u2019s trip to Sunderland. Arne Slot beat Guardiola at home and away last season. Now there has been another reversal in fortunes \u2013 indeed City\u2019s first league double over Liverpool since 1937 \u2013 and a second defeat in three league games left the Dutchman bemoaning misfortune. \u201cSo many times this year we haven\u2019t got what I think we deserve and this is another time,\u201d sighed Slot. \u201cI am feeling anger and disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n
An extraordinary end was a familiar one for a team who have conceded four injury-time winners this season. If, for much of the match, this seemed a pale imitation of some of the epic encounters between Guardiola\u2019s City and Jurgen Klopp\u2019s Liverpool, the last half-hour brought drama to rival any. And, for Szoboszlai, a cruelty.<\/p>\n
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Dominik Szoboszlai appeals for a foul after City find the net in added time (Reuters)![\"Craig](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/FBL-ENG-PR-LIVERPOOL-MAN-CITY-0ina6eh7.jpeg\")
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Craig Pawson sends off Szoboszlai at the end of City’s victory at Anfield (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n
It may be best to start at the end; with Alisson stranded in City territory, Rayan Cherki rolled the ball in from the centre circle. It was pursued by two scorers, former teammates and friends. Szoboszlai tugged Haaland back, then the Norwegian responded in kind to stop the Hungarian clearing off the line. And, as neither reached Cherki\u2019s shot, City celebrated. A VAR check later, a needless intervention from Craig Pawson and, ludicrously, Szoboszlai was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity even as the goal seemed to be scored. A free kick was instead awarded. \u201cJust give the goal, don\u2019t give a red card, simple as that,\u201d said Haaland, speaking for many. Guardiola concurred. \u201cCome on referee, give the goal and go home,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
So City only won 2-1 and so Haaland had the status of the scorer of the decider. He assisted the equaliser, too, heading Cherki\u2019s cross down behind Van Dijk for Silva to slide in and score. The City skipper had been an injury doubt: instead the man Guardiola called \u201cthe perfect captain\u201d completed the game and started the fightback.<\/p>\n
Haaland finished it; officially, anyway. He still has not scored a Premier League goal in open play since Christmas. It is a statistic that seems to matter rather less when he has an ice-cool penalty at Anfield to his name, earned when Silva chipped the ball forward and Matheus Nunes was upended by Alisson; it was not the last time the Liverpool goalkeeper was found in the wrong place. Haaland drilled in the spot kick. His celebration was first wild and then calm, in his trademark meditative pose. He had taken off his shirt, willingly collecting his booking. Like Guardiola, he had unhappy memories of Anfield to exorcise: his only previous goal here came in a Red Bull Salzburg side featuring Szoboszlai. <\/p>\n
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Bernardo Silva races back to the halfway line after scoring for City (PA)![\"Erling](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Liverpool-v-Manchester-City-Premier-League-s7bc2p9d.jpeg\")
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Erling Haaland converts from the penalty spot (Getty)<\/p>\n
Cherki\u2019s role in the victory should not be underestimated. A surprise omission, City missed his creativity. An inspired substitution, he helped turn the game. He might have joined Liverpool last summer, but they preferred to buy Florian Wirtz. Marc Guehi almost joined them on deadline day in September, was booed by the Anfield faithful and defended brilliantly. When he tugged back Mohamed Salah on the edge of the box, a caution seemed a price worth paying for pragmatism. Slot disagreed, more aggrieved by this decision than Szoboszlai\u2019s sending off. \u201cIf you follow the rule book, it is a red card on Mo Salah,\u201d he said. But Pawson was probably right there, Guehi was terrific and Liverpool got a glimpse of what they missed out on: of what they lost, too, as Haaland encouraged Pep Lijnders, Klopp\u2019s long-term assistant and now Guardiola\u2019s sidekick, to accept the City fans\u2019 applause after the final whistle.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose spot-kick saves had eliminated Liverpool from the Champions League last season, made a stunning save to deny Alexis Mac Allister a 98th-minute equaliser. \u201cOut of this world,\u201d said Haaland.<\/p>\n