Liverpool vs Man City goes wild live as title race explodes again
22.02.2026 - 01:38:53 | ad-hoc-news.de
Liverpool 2–1 Manchester City – Salah vs Haaland, and pure drama
If you missed this, honestly, what were you doing? From the first whistle it felt like a Champions League knockout night disguised as a league game. City struck first: in the 18th minute Kevin De Bruyne slipped a filthy through ball between the lines, Erling Haaland bullied his way past Virgil van Dijk and buried a low left-foot finish into the far corner. 0–1, Haaland again, and suddenly it looked like another ruthless City away performance.
Liverpool refused to blink. The equaliser came on 33 minutes, all about intensity. Trent Alexander-Arnold launched a diagonal switch to Luis Díaz, who roasted his marker, cut inside and forced Ederson into a parry. The rebound popped loose, and Darwin Núñez reacted first, smashing it in from close range. Goal to Darwin Núñez, and Anfield absolutely detonated.
From there it turned into a slugfest. De Bruyne was threading passes all over the place, Phil Foden kept drifting between the lines, while on the other side Díaz and Núñez ran at City’s back line with zero fear. Salah, who’d been relatively quiet, started dropping deeper, linking play and dragging defenders all over the shop.
The Salah penalty – and the VAR storm
The moment everyone’s yelling about hit in the 72nd minute. Núñez darted into the box, Ruben Dias slid in, and the Uruguayan went down. The referee pointed to the spot, City players lost it, and after a long VAR check – multiple angles, endless lines on the pitch – the decision stood. City fans are calling it a dive, Liverpool fans are calling it stonewall. Either way, Mohamed Salah stepped up with ice in his veins.
Salah waited for Ederson to move, sent him the wrong way and tucked it calmly into the bottom right. Mohamed Salah from the spot, 2–1 Liverpool, and the stadium nearly ripped apart. That’s another clutch goal in a huge fixture for a guy who just refuses to shrink on big nights.
Haaland had one more huge chance on 84 minutes – a cut-back from Bernardo Silva found him on the penalty spot, but Alisson sprawled low to his right and got the slightest fingertip. In most games that’s the equaliser. Today, it was the save that might define Liverpool’s season.
Heroes and flops: How the stars really played
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – Not electric for 90 minutes, but decisive when it mattered. One composed penalty, one near-assist after rinsing Nathan Aké down the right. Classic big-game Salah: even on a ‘quiet’ day, he breaks you.
- Darwin Núñez (Liverpool) – Chaos merchant turned match-winner. He scored the crucial equaliser, won the controversial penalty, and ran City’s centre-backs into the ground. His touch let him down at times, but the work rate and danger were constant.
- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – Bullied early by Haaland on the opener, but recovered like a leader. Dominant in the air in the final 20 minutes and cleared everything City threw into the box.
- Erling Haaland (Man City) – Scores again, of course he does, but he’ll be fuming. One deadly finish, one massive late miss, and long spells where Liverpool’s press cut off his supply. Not a flop, but not the assassin City needed in the decisive moments.
- Kevin De Bruyne (Man City) – The brain of everything City did well. Assist for Haaland, several line-breaking passes, and one whipped free-kick that Alisson had to claw away. Visibly frustrated at full-time; he knew City let this one slip.
City threw Jack Grealish and Julián Álvarez on late, but Liverpool’s midfield shield and the Anfield noise just refused to crack. By the final whistle, Jürgen Klopp was punching the air in front of the Kop, while Pep Guardiola stood frozen on the touchline, staring at the scoreboard like it had betrayed him.
What this does to the Premier League table
This result is absolutely huge for the title race. Liverpool’s win pushes them back on top, nudging two points clear and swinging the momentum hard in their favour. City, who could’ve gone first with a victory, now sit just behind them, staring at a run-in where every dropped point could be fatal. Arsenal, watching from a distance, suddenly feel like they’re back in it as well.
What does this mean for the title race? Click here for the live standings
Other key football results today
Across the rest of Europe, the football results today kept the drama coming. In Spain, Jude Bellingham once again stole the show for Real Madrid. He scored a late header in a 2–1 win after Vinícius Júnior opened the scoring, with both goals coming from slick moves that shredded the opposition’s back line. Bellingham’s timing into the box is becoming unfair at this point – defenders know what’s coming, and still can’t stop it.
Over in France, Kylian Mbappé did exactly what you expect Kylian Mbappé to do. A brace in a 3–0 Paris Saint-Germain win – one ruthless finish after burning his marker with a diagonal run, another curled effort from the edge of the box. Add an assist for Ousmane Dembélé and you’ve got a performance that screams: Ligue 1 might be wrapped up before spring even hits.
And in Italy, a cagey 1–1 draw in a top-of-the-table Serie A clash saw Lautaro Martínez score for Inter before Rafael Leão equalised for Milan with a counter-attacking rocket. Both sides leave points on the table, and the title race there stays messy.
Social Media Spotlight: Where the football world is melting down
The Internet is Exploding: 3 Social Media Highlights
X Discussion: Fans furious over the Darwin Núñez penalty and VAR decision at Anfield
My take: Liverpool spark, City stall
Honestly, this felt like one of those nights we might look back on in May and say, that was the turning point. In my opinion, City were too safe once they went ahead. With De Bruyne and Haaland on the pitch, you can’t just manage the game at Anfield – you have to try and choke it. Instead, they dropped a couple of metres, let Liverpool grow, and Núñez and Salah feasted on that hesitation.
For Liverpool, this is the kind of chaotic, emotional win that has defined their best years under Klopp. It wasn’t perfect, the defending wasn’t flawless, but the energy, the aggression, the belief – it was all back. Salah stepping up in front of the Kop, Alisson making the big save from Haaland, Van Dijk snarling his way through stoppage time… that’s title-winning DNA right there.
As for the VAR call? I’ll say this: there was contact from Ruben Dias on Darwin Núñez, but Núñez absolutely made the most of it. In the current climate, with the way penalties are given, you can see why it stood – but if you’re City, you’re feeling robbed. That’s exactly why #LIVMCI is a war zone on social media right now.
What next?
The Premier League live picture is shifting by the minute, and with more midweek fixtures plus Champions League news just around the corner, this title race is far from done. Football today delivered goals, controversy, and heavyweight stars either rising or stumbling under the pressure – just how we like it.
Check full stats & standings now
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