Lastgasp, Liverpool

Last?gasp drama! Liverpool edge City as Haaland misses, Salah delivers live

02.02.2026 - 16:54:27

Liverpool grab a huge win over Man City in a wild Anfield night while Salah shines and Haaland struggles – and the title race just exploded. Stay tuned.

Kick-off! As of today, 2026-02-02, the pitch is on fire... You wanted football results today? You got pure chaos. Anfield just hosted a Premier League live blockbuster: Liverpool 2–1 Manchester City, a result that rips the title race wide open and sends social media absolutely nuts.

The football results today are all about one thing: a heavyweight fight between Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland, and only one of them walked off like a king.

Liverpool 2–1 Manchester City – Salah the ice-cold closer

Did you see that finish? The game exploded early. Liverpool came out flying, and within 18 minutes the press paid off. Luis Díaz nicked the ball high up, slipped it into the box, and Mohamed Salah did what he does best: one touch to set, second touch low across goal and into the far corner. Salah 1–0.

City answered like champions, though. In the 34th minute, Kevin De Bruyne (yep, still the brain of this side) picked out Erling Haaland with a filthy disguised pass through two defenders. Haaland shrugged off his marker and smashed it past the keeper for 1–1. Classic No.9 finish, first real sniff, first goal. That was his only clinical moment all night, though, because after that Liverpool’s back line made his life horrible.

The second half turned into a street fight. Tackles flying in, the crowd screaming on every touch, and VAR getting dragged into the conversation. On 63 minutes, City thought they’d flipped the match: Bernardo Silva clipped a teasing ball to the back post and Phil Foden volleyed home. But hold up. VAR check. In the build-up, Haaland had tugged on Virgil van Dijk’s shirt. After a long review, the ref went to the screen and disallowed Foden’s goal. Anfield went nuclear, Pep lost his mind on the touchline, and that VAR call is exactly what everyone’s screaming about online right now.

And then came the twist. With City still rattled, Liverpool threw on fresh legs. In the 88th minute, it was chaos in City’s box from a corner, the ball popped out to Trent Alexander-Arnold on the edge, he rolled it sideways, and Dominik Szoboszlai absolutely hammered a low drive. It took a wicked deflection via a crowd of legs, wrong-footed the keeper and crashed in for 2–1 Liverpool. Officially, it goes down as a Szoboszlai goal, and Anfield turned into a madhouse.

Heroes and flops? Salah was pure ice – a goal, constant danger, and big-game presence. Szoboszlai was everywhere, crunching in tackles and then popping up with the winner. For City, De Bruyne’s vision kept them alive, but Haaland faded badly after his goal. Once van Dijk and Konaté tightened up, Haaland barely had a clean look, and he even headed a golden 82nd-minute chance straight at the keeper. On a night like this, that miss feels massive.

Elsewhere in the title race – goals, chaos, and pressure

While Anfield stole the spotlight, the rest of today’s fixtures piled pressure on everyone.

In London, Arsenal 3–0 Newcastle was as one-sided as the score suggests. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring with a tidy left-footed strike inside the box, Gabriel Jesus added the second with a near-post finish after a cut-back, and Martin Ødegaard curled in a gorgeous third from the edge. Saka absolutely cooked his full-back all game, and Ødegaard ran the tempo. On this performance, Arsenal look like a team that absolutely believes they’re in the title race.

Meanwhile, Manchester United 1–1 Tottenham was pure frustration for the home crowd. Bruno Fernandes put United ahead with a composed penalty after a clumsy challenge on Rasmus Højlund, but Spurs hit back as Son Heung-min slid in to tap home a slick counterattack. United’s stars flattered to deceive – Marcus Rashford drifted in and out, while Bruno kept trying the Hollywood ball that never quite landed. Son, on the other hand, was sharp every time Spurs broke forward and easily their standout attacker.

What this does to the Premier League table

Liverpool’s late winner flips the mood at the top. City drop huge points, Arsenal close the gap, and suddenly every single kick next week feels like a mini-final.

Liverpool’s three points push them right up against City’s shoulders, with Arsenal breathing heavily down both of their necks. Haaland’s goal keeps him in the Golden Boot hunt, but Salah’s strike today means he stays locked into that top scorers today conversation as well. From a pure numbers standpoint, the title race just went from tense to absolutely combustible.

What does this mean for the title race? Click here for the live standings

Champions League vibes & wider soccer news

You can feel it already: results like today’s are going to hit the Champions League news cycle too. Managers will be judged on how they rotate squads after these high-intensity league battles. Liverpool’s energy levels looked through the roof, which is scary for anyone meeting them in Europe. City, usually ice-cold under pressure, showed a rare bit of emotional wobble after that VAR call and disallowed Foden strike. Keep an eye on how Pep reacts in his next presser – he’s going to be asked about that decision non-stop.

Around Europe, other football league table stories are bubbling, but today the spotlight is firmly on England. Neutral fans got exactly what they ordered: big names, big goals, big controversy.

Social Media spotlight – VAR meltdown and Salah love-in

The online reaction? Completely unhinged, obviously. The hashtag dominating X/Twitter right now is #LIVMCI, and your feed is split between Liverpool fans partying, City fans raging over VAR, and neutrals replaying Szoboszlai’s deflected winner on loop.

On Instagram, Liverpool’s official account is already spamming full-time graphics, tunnel shots, and probably a Salah smile that’s going to hit a million likes before you even finish this sentence. The locker room vibes after a stoppage-time-ish winner against City? Absolutely electric.

Over on YouTube, the highlight providers are racing each other to get the clips up first – every replay of Salah’s opener, Haaland’s equaliser, and Szoboszlai’s late strike is going to be living rent-free in the algorithm tonight.

Reporter’s verdict – this is what title drama looks like

From my seat, this felt like one of those season-defining nights. Liverpool played like a side that simply refused to accept a draw. Salah was ruthless, Szoboszlai’s mentality was unreal, and van Dijk looked like the old version of himself in the last 20 minutes, shutting the door on Haaland completely.

City, though, will kick themselves. You can’t rely on moments of De Bruyne magic forever if the rest of the team loses its head after a decision goes against them. In my opinion, the way they reacted to the VAR call – arms in the air, focus drifting – is exactly why they conceded late. Champions play the whistle, not the replay.

As for individual verdicts: Salah: world-class. Haaland: lethal finish, but not enough. De Bruyne: still genius, but needs help. Saka and Ødegaard at Arsenal? That’s a pair that looks ready to drag their club into a three-way slugfest for the title.

The football results today didn’t just change the scoreboard – they changed the entire mood of the league. Every manager, every fanbase, every player chasing the Golden Boot and the trophy knows it.

Check full stats & standings now


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@ ad-hoc-news.de

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