**Liverpool slipped to a late defeat at the hands of Manchester City.**
Dominik Szoboszlai finally broke the deadlock in the 75th minute with a 25-yard free kick which nestled in the top righthand corner of The Kop’s net.
But Bernardo Silva drew the visitors level during the closing stages as he stabbed home the ball after Erling Haaland flicked on a Rayan Cherki cross.
The Reds were fully undone in added time when Erling Haaland broke his Premier League duck at Anfield with a penalty after Alisson’s foul on Cherki.
Things went from bad to worse late on as Szoboszlai was sent off for pulling back Haaland after a VAR review which also disallowed a third City goal.
Arne Slot’s side slipped to sixth place in the Premier League table and are now five points adrift of the final Champions League qualification position.
_Here were the key talking points from Anfield:_
City clashes are still box office
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Anyone who believed that the days of Liverpool and Manchester City slugging it out were long gone was given a fresh crash course by this encounter.
Granted, the rivalry may have lacked its once-familiar punch since Jurgen Klopp’s departure stripped Pep Guardiola of his strongest touchline nemesis.
The fall from grace Arne Slot’s side continue to suffer also saw the red half of north London usurping its Merseyside counterpart as City’s main challenger.
But any suggestions that this fixture has fallen by the wayside were firmly rebuffed with a showdown which was played at its traditional high intensity.
Anfield rose to the occasion with trademark ferocity, returning after being understandably conspicious by its absence for large parts of this season.
Much like their previous battles for supremacy, the pendulum of momentum swung between the sides to reignite the Premier League’s box office fixture.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s masterful free kick delivered a moment of class before added time unleashed a maelstrom of chaos that will steal all the headlines.
It only served to confirm that while others may have taken centre stage in recent months, there is no denying that this remains the ultimate spectacle.
…but Reds risk going off the rails
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Liverpool’s latest setback in a season that has seen so many twists and turns felt like par for the course after back-to-back victories in all competitions.
This one, however, has the potential to be more seismic than the last.
The fallen English champions slipped to sixth in the table but are crucially now five points off the remaining Champions League qualification position.
A fifth may open up by the campaign’s end but as things stand, the Reds are the underdogs in a four-team race to reach Europe’s elite club competition.
Manchester United’s renaissance sees them occupying the box seat while Chelsea are still finding ways to win despite their own topsy turvy year.
Even Brentford, who only sit below Slot’s charges on goal difference, show no signs of surrendering their status as one of the top flight’s in-form teams.
There is no shame in losing to a City team pushing for their seventh title in nine seasons yet it leaves Liverpool with precious little margin for error.
Dropping further points during an unenviable run of games on the horizon would see what remains of this season officially going off the rails.
Late desperation proves costly
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Sending your goalkeeper up for a corner is the ultimate act of desperation.
It’s a last throw of the dice which occasionally pays off, as Liverpool can fully attest after Alisson’s last-minute winner against West Brom in April 2021.
Nearly five years on, the Brazilian clearly fancied his chances of a repeat in front of The Kop deep in added time but it ended up backfiring spectacularly.
Liverpool’s No.1 stayed in the mix as the hosts continued to push for a late leveller rather than retreating to the halfway line to cover his exposed goal.
So it came as little surprise to anyone inside Anfield that City took advantage of it with Rayan Cherki sending a daisy cutter crawling from the halfway line.
Szoboszlai’s agonising attempt to prevent the inevitable in a foot race with Erling Haaland proved to be his undong with his retrospective red card.
It was a move that has wide-reaching implications with the auxiliary right-back’s suspension for the trip to Sunderland causing a selection headache.
No Kopite would ever argue against their team waving the white flag with all still to play for but this proved that going for broke is more risk than reward.