Man City Snaps Liverpool's 21-Match Unbeaten Streak

Not that points won now count any more or less than points won anywhere else in the season, but the ones on offer at the Etihad loomed large.

Under the circumstances, Manchester City honcho Pep Guardiola claimed before the match that if the Citizens lost this match with Liverpool, the Premiership title race was as good as over.

Perhaps he forgot that, while Jürgen Klopp's got the Reds well-oiled, they're still not a machine.

Simple math, not viewpoint, says there's still room at the top, and City's 2-1 victory over the 'Pool did make their pack of challengers happy.

 

The drama started early, even though the results didn't. Instead, comedy ensued.

The 18th minute was Roberto Firmino pick out Sadio Mané, who got loose inside the box and fired a bullseye straight at the post.

The carom landed with John Stones' whose attempted clearance attempt hit his own 'keeper, Ederson. The ball damn near crossed the line, but Stones miraculously recovered and made good on his second try:

 

Shades of the Keystone Kops!

Escapes like that made them immortal, the proof of which being that we just mentioned them a century later.

 

Anyway, back to 2019.

Both teams kept up a frenetic pace, and in the 40th minute, City broke the deadlock. 

Bernardo Silva got the ball on the left wing and low-crossed it to Sergio Agüero, who skipped away from Dejan Lovren and rocketed home past Alisson from a narrow angle:

 

After the break, City kept pressing for their second, but it was Liverpool who scored.

In the 64th, Andy Robertson received a stellar Route 1 pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold and crossed it to Firmino. All dude had to do was nod it home.

 

Klopp's crew started to make noise about a second goal, but they were punished for their zealousness in the 72nd, when the Citizens launched a lethal counter-attack.

Raheem Sterling drove forward and dished to Leroy Sané on the left. Dude fired a missile that glanced home off the post:

 

That tightened things up a tad:

In essence, Tottenham's a mere two games off the pace, but a dog-eat-dog second half could even keep Chelsea in the conversation.

Arsenal's probably just happy to have a shot at Europe.