Manchester City maintained their narrow advantage in the Premier League title race with a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at the Etihad.
The match was billed as a title decider, with City leading Jurgen Klopp’s side by just a point heading into the final few weeks of the season.
Kevin De Bruyne got the hosts off to the perfect start, Diogo Jota equalised for Liverpool before Gabriel Jesus then restored the lead going into break.
Sadio Mane got the Reds back on terms seconds after the restart and neither side could find a winner that would have been a potentially decisive moment in the title race.
City’s one-point lead remains with seven matches to go, and the teams will meet again next weekend at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final.
It was a breathless start at the Etihad, with Raheem Sterling missing a huge chance to put City in front. De Bruyne did score seconds later though to give the home side the lead inside five minutes.
A free-kick was taken quickly, the Belgian drove forward with the ball and his shot from distance took a big deflection off Joel Matip and found the far corner.
Liverpool looked ragged in the early stages but settled themselves and were back on terms less than ten minutes later. Andy Robertson’s deep cross found his fellow full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who on the volley cut the ball ball perfectly for Jota and he made no mistake.
Both sides continued to offer a real threat, with space in behind regularly on offer. De Bruyne nearly got his second of the match, but dragged the effort wide.
Pep Guardiola’s side restored their lead though before the break through Jesus. Joao Cancelo curled a superb cross to the back post, where the Brazilian had made a great run and he then lifted the ball over Alisson and into the back of the net with the help of the underside of the bar.
Jota should have got Liverpool back level again but took to long when through on goal, before Aymeric Laporte hit the post seconds before the break, though the offside flag then went up.
It took less than 60 seconds of the second-half for Liverpool to equalise again. Mohamed Salah played a lovely through ball for Mane and he slotted the first-time finish past Ederson emphatically.
In an increasingly frantic encounter, City very nearly took the lead for a third time. Jesus cut inside onto his left foot, beat Alisson with the strike only to find Virgil van Dijk was behind his goalkeeper to clear the danger.
Just after the hour mark, City did have the ball in the net again as Raheem Sterling cooly slotted through the legs of the Liverpool goalkeeper, but it was ruled out by VAR for offside.
Salah curled a deflected strike just wide of the far post, before Jesus drilled an effort into the side-netting from a tight angle as both sides pushed for a winner. Riyad Mahrez came off the bench and fired a free-kick that flicked off the outside of the post as the clock ticked into stoppage-time. The Algerian was then played through in the final seconds and had a massive chance to win it, but looped his shot over the bar.
It finished level, a result that looks set to ensure the title race goes down to the wire, but it’s City who have the edge going into the final stretch of the season.
