Liverpool stun City in stoppage-time thriller as Haaland misfires – Live chaos

Liverpool edge Man City in a wild late twist while Haaland blanks, Salah delivers and the title race explodes. VAR, woodwork and one huge winner – dive in.

Kick-off! As of today, 2026-02-12, the pitch is on fire... Did you see that?? If you love soccer games with pure chaos, late drama and superstars under the spotlight, Liverpool vs Manchester City just blew the doors off the Premier League live schedule. One stoppage-time dagger from Darwin Núñez flipped the whole title race, left Pep stunned on the touchline, and sent Anfield into orbit.

Liverpool 2–1 Manchester City – Núñez breaks City hearts

This one had everything: tactical chess, superstar swings, and a brutal late twist. City actually drew first blood. On 19 minutes, a slick move down the right saw Kevin De Bruyne slide a killer pass into the box, where Phil Foden peeled away from his marker and smashed a left?footed strike low past Alisson for 0–1. Classic City: one touch, two touch, bang.

Liverpool were rattled for a spell, but they woke up fast. Mohamed Salah started running at Joško Gvardiol and Nathan Aké like it was a personal mission. On 37 minutes, the equaliser arrived – and it was vintage Salah. Trent Alexander-Arnold pinged a diagonal, Salah took it down, chopped inside and forced a desperate tackle from Aké. VAR checked, the ref stuck to his guns: penalty to Liverpool. Up stepped Salah, cool as ice, sending Ederson the wrong way for 1–1.

From there, it turned into a cage fight of top-level football. City still had control spells, but Liverpool’s press was on full send. The narrative everyone was watching? Erling Haaland. The Norwegian destroyer usually feasts in these soccer games, but tonight he was strangely off. In the 54th minute, Bernardo Silva curled in a dream cross that Haaland would normally bury in his sleep. Instead, he mistimed his header and nodded wide from six yards. You could almost feel the shock in the away end.

Haaland did get another huge chance on 71 minutes. A loose ball dropped kindly in the area, he bullied Ibrahima Konaté aside and smashed a right?footer that beat Alisson but crashed off the crossbar. Millimetres from being the headline, instead it became the what?if.

The late twist: Núñez the wild card, City punished

While Haaland struggled, Liverpool’s chaos king took over. Darwin Núñez came off the bench and immediately turned the tempo up to 11. In the 88th minute he powered a header just wide from a Robertson cross, and you felt either a winner or a meme was coming.

Deep into stoppage time, Anfield got its moment. Liverpool broke out after a half?cleared City corner. Alexis Mac Allister stole the ball, slipped it to Salah, and Salah instantly released Núñez in behind. Núñez drove straight at Rúben Dias, chopped onto his right foot and drilled a low shot into the far corner for 2–1. Absolute bedlam. Shirts off in the Kop, Klopp (and you) losing their minds, City players sinking to the turf.

City screamed for a foul in the build?up, claiming Salah clipped Rodri, but VAR checked it and stuck with the on?field decision. That VAR moment is exactly what everyone’s arguing about online right now.

Stars report card: heroes & flops

• Mohamed Salah – Hero. One goal from the spot, one assist for the winner, and constant danger cutting in from the right. When Liverpool needed a leader, he delivered. This is why he’s always near the top scorers today charts.
• Darwin Núñez – Super-sub chaos merchant. The winning goal, massive energy, and exactly the kind of unpredictable edge that breaks elite defences.
• Erling Haaland – Rare flop. No goal, one huge miss, one crossbar. He bullied the box like usual but just didn’t have the clinical edge. For a guy chasing Golden Boot numbers, tonight hurts.
• Kevin De Bruyne – Classy but not decisive. Perfect assist for Foden and a few filthy passes, but Liverpool’s intensity dragged him deeper and deeper as the match wore on.
• Trent Alexander-Arnold & Virgil van Dijk – Mixed but clutch. Trent was risky defensively but sparked Liverpool’s best attacks. Van Dijk lost Foden once for the opener, then locked in for the final half hour.

What it means for the football league table

This isn’t just a wild match report – this result shakes the entire title race. With Liverpool taking all three points, they jump above City in the football league table and crank the pressure on everyone else dreaming of the trophy. City, meanwhile, suddenly look vulnerable, especially with Haaland misfiring and big fixtures still to come.

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

If you’re tracking Premier League live swings or just wondering how this affects Champions League spots and qualification, that table tells the whole brutal truth. One late Núñez hit, and the gap at the top looks completely different.

Champions League news & wider ripple effect

This wasn’t just a domestic banger. Everywhere you look in Champions League news, the same theme is emerging: English clubs are battling through brutal schedules, and performance in these huge league clashes bleeds straight into European form. Liverpool’s energy levels tonight look scary for anyone they face midweek; City’s lack of cutting edge will have Europe taking notes.

In other key soccer games today across Europe, top scorers like Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham added to their tallies in their own leagues, keeping themselves near the top scorers today lists and reinforcing just how many elite forwards are in ridiculous form heading into the knockout phases.

My take: this changes everything

In my opinion, this is one of those season-defining soccer games. City had control, had the star power, had the chances – and still walked away with nothing. That’s on them. Haaland missing sitters, the defence switching off for one moment against Núñez, and Pep looking genuinely rattled on the touchline… that’s not the usual machine?like City.

For Liverpool, this is massive. Salah looked like the best player on the pitch, Núñez delivered peak chaos in the best possible way, and the whole squad played like a team that refuses to let the title dream fade. If they keep this energy, everyone else is chasing them, not the other way around.

Managers love to talk about fine margins. Tonight, the fine margin is a Darwin Núñez right boot and a VAR check survivors will be arguing about all week. That’s modern football. That’s why we’re addicted.

Closing whistle: buckle up for the run?in

The title race is officially unhinged, the soccer news cycle is going to be all Liverpool, all City and all VAR for days, and the next round of fixtures already feels huge. If you want the cold, unforgiving reality behind the emotion, the numbers don’t lie.

Check full stats & standings now

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@ ad-hoc-news.de