Last?minute drama live: Liverpool edge City as Haaland blanks at Anfield

Liverpool steal a 2-1 win over Man City in a wild Anfield finish – Salah decisive, Haaland silent, title race shaken up. What a night.

Kick-off! As of today, 2026-03-01, the pitch is on fire... If you love crazy soccer games, tonight at Anfield was pure chaos. Liverpool turned a nerve-wrecking Premier League live showdown into a massive 2-1 win over Manchester City, with Mohamed Salah again playing the cold-blooded closer while Erling Haaland had one of those nights to forget.

From the first whistle, this felt like a match that could swing the whole football league table. Liverpool flew out of the blocks, City tried to calm things down with their usual passing carousel, and every single touch from Salah and Haaland got a roar or a groan. This didn’t feel like just another game – this felt like a title-defining knife fight.

Liverpool 2–1 Man City: Salah delivers, Haaland disappears

Scoreline says 2-1, story says: absolute Premier League mayhem. Liverpool opened the scoring after a furious start. In the 17th minute, Luis Díaz roasted Kyle Walker down the left, cut inside and slid a smart pass into the box. Darwin Núñez dummied, the ball ran to Mohamed Salah, and in one touch he sent Rúben Dias the wrong way before smashing a low shot past Ederson at the near post. Boom – 1-0 Liverpool, Salah on the scoresheet, the Kop losing its mind.

Man City reacted like champions. Kevin De Bruyne – who honestly looked like he was playing a different sport at times – started to take over the half-spaces. In the 34th minute, he whipped in a wicked cross that found Erling Haaland totally free between Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté. You’d bet your house on him from there... but his header went straight at Alisson. That miss became the theme of Haaland’s night: always in the picture, never the finisher.

City’s equaliser finally came in the 52nd minute through Phil Foden. Rodri pinched the ball off Alexis Mac Allister, slipped it to De Bruyne, and the Belgian threaded a filthy reverse pass into Foden’s stride. One touch out of his feet, curled left-foot finish into the far corner. Alisson had no chance – 1-1 and suddenly Anfield went nervous.

From there, it turned into pure end-to-end football. Núñez forced Ederson into a flying save, Foden tested Alisson again, and every City set piece felt like a Haaland redemption chance that just didn’t come. The Norwegian star kept getting dragged wide, kept losing physical duels with Van Dijk, and you could literally see the frustration in his body language. On the biggest stage of all the soccer games today, he just didn’t show that usual killer edge.

The winner: Gakpo’s spark, Salah’s ice-cold veins

The decisive moment came in the 84th minute and it had total chaos written all over it. Substitutes changed this game: Cody Gakpo came on and immediately gave City problems dropping between the lines. He spun away from Rodri, drove at the back four and slid a through ball into Núñez. Núñez went down in the box under a challenge from João Cancelo – the ref waved play on, Anfield screamed, and then VAR got involved.

We had the full VAR experience: ref at the monitor, players surrounding, fans losing it. After what felt like forever, the decision came: penalty to Liverpool. Replays showed Cancelo clipping Núñez just before he tried to shoot. City bench went crazy, Guardiola sarcastically applauding on the touchline – pure Premier League theatre.

Up stepped Mohamed Salah. Ederson tried the mind games, but Salah didn’t even blink. He slammed the penalty high to the keeper’s right in the 88th minute for his second of the night – 2-1 Liverpool, Anfield shaking, Salah looking like the most clutch player on the pitch yet again.

City threw everything forward in stoppage time. Haaland finally forced Alisson into a big save with a low drive in the 93rd minute, but it was too little, too late. When the whistle blew, you could feel the storylines writing themselves: Salah the hero, Haaland the nearly-man, and a title race that just swung hard towards Merseyside.

Heroes, flops and what it means for the table

Mohamed Salah: world-class, again. Two goals, non-stop movement, and he dragged his team through the nerviest moments. On a day where all the eyes were on the top scorers today, he reminded everyone why he’s still one of the most ruthless finishers in world football.

Virgil van Dijk: quietly monstrous. He bullied Haaland in almost every aerial duel, kept his positioning perfect, and stepped up any time City tried to hit that early cross. You know a defender has done his job when Erling Haaland walks off goalless and fuming.

Erling Haaland: not his night. He had chances – that first-half header, that stoppage-time drive – but his usual robotic efficiency just wasn’t there. For a guy who usually dominates the conversation in Champions League news and domestic headlines, this one is going down as a straight-up flop appearance.

Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden were City’s brightest sparks, but it wasn’t enough. De Bruyne’s assist for Foden was vintage, and Foden’s finish was pure class, but once Liverpool tightened up and started hitting those transition moments, City never quite found that extra gear.

In terms of the football league table, this result is massive. Liverpool’s win pushes them back to the top, nudging City down and throwing extra pressure on the rest of the top-four chasers. The gap is tight, the margins are tiny, and every dropped point from here is going to feel like a full-on disaster for anyone chasing the title.

What does this mean for the title race? Liverpool just landed a huge punch, City suddenly look human, and the rest of the league will either smell blood or panic. For the full updated picture of where everyone stands after this Anfield thriller, check the live standings here:
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My take: Liverpool look like champions, City look rattled

I’m just going to say it: on nights like this, Liverpool feel like the most emotionally explosive team in Europe. The way they feed off Anfield, the way Salah rises in big moments – it’s the exact energy you associate with deep Champions League runs and late-season title charges.

City, though? They suddenly look… mortal. Haaland misfiring, the defence panicking under pressure, Guardiola raging at the fourth official – it all screamed vulnerability. This isn’t the machine that used to steamroll through the league and make every other match report feel predictable. This is a side that can actually be rattled when the tempo goes insane.

In my opinion, if City don’t figure out how to get Haaland better service in these huge away games, they’re going to keep dropping defining points. Liverpool, meanwhile, just look like a team that believes every chaotic 90 minutes is going to end with them on top.

And that’s exactly what you want from the top soccer games: chaos, controversy, and superstars either becoming legends or walking off wondering what just happened.

Title race? Absolutely wide open – but Liverpool just grabbed the wheel tonight.

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