Liverpool vs Man City live chaos: title race explodes as stars trade blows

Liverpool and Man City serve up a wild draw as Salah and Haaland take center stage – but one huge VAR call has everyone losing it.

Kick-off! As of today, 2026-02-24, the pitch is on fire... You wanted drama from your soccer games, you got it. Anfield turned into a pressure cooker as Liverpool and Manchester City ripped into each other in a match that felt like a Premier League final played in February. End-to-end, star power everywhere, and a VAR twist that's already breaking the internet.

Liverpool vs Manchester City – Heavyweight clash, heavy chaos

From the first whistle, you could tell this wasn't going to be a quiet Sunday. Liverpool flew out of the blocks, and inside 15 minutes they were in front. A slick move down the right saw Trent Alexander-Arnold slide a pass into Mohamed Salah, who rolled his marker and slammed home with his left foot. Mohamed Salah – of course it was him – buried the opener and Anfield absolutely erupted.

Manchester City didn't sulk, they snapped back. Just before the half-hour mark, Kevin De Bruyne picked up a loose ball in midfield, drifted into space and dropped a trademark through ball into the path of Erling Haaland. One touch to set, one touch to smash low into the corner: 1-1, Haaland on the scoresheet again. The guy is basically a goal machine in boots.

The first-half tempo was ridiculous. Salah had a curler tipped over by Ederson, while Haaland forced Alisson into a full-stretch save after bullying his way past two defenders. De Bruyne kept drifting between the lines, feeding little passes into Haaland and Phil Foden, while Liverpool leaned on the chaos of Darwin Núñez, who ran himself into the ground and constantly looked like he was one touch away from either genius or disaster.

Second-half: from classic to pure controversy

Right after the break, Liverpool turned up the volume again. A corner from the left was only half-cleared, and the ball fell perfectly to Virgil van Dijk on the edge of the box. One step, one thunderbolt: Van Dijk's strike crashed through a sea of bodies and into the net. Officially, it went down as Virgil van Dijk on 52 minutes and Anfield went off like a firework.

City responded by tossing more and more players forward. De Bruyne almost equalised with a free-kick that kissed the top of the bar, and Foden hooked a volley just wide. But the moment that will live on in memes came in the 78th minute. Haaland got in behind again, rounded Alisson and went down under contact. The ref pointed straight to the spot. Liverpool players surrounded him, the crowd was howling, and VAR stepped in.

We waited. And waited. On the big screen: "PENALTY CHECK". Replays showed Alisson getting a slight touch on the ball before colliding with Haaland. After what felt like an eternity, VAR told the ref to check the monitor. He jogged over, watched three angles, then – under a wall of noise – stuck with his original decision. Penalty stands. You could feel the fury.

Erling Haaland stepped up, ice cold. He sent Alisson the wrong way and smashed home the 2-2 equaliser. Two goals for the Norwegian and a full-on VAR meltdown in the stands. From there, both teams had chances to win it: Salah broke free on the counter but dragged his shot wide, while Julián Álvarez forced a late parry from Alisson. In the end, it finished level, but it felt like everyone had gone through a full emotional workout.

Stars check-in: heroes and nearly-men

• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): A goal, constant threat, and City never really figured him out. He faded slightly late on, but as a creative and scoring focal point he was massive.
• Erling Haaland (Man City): Two goals in the game – the classic ruthless No. 9 performance. Barely involved in buildup at times, but every touch in the box felt lethal.
• Kevin De Bruyne (Man City): The assist for Haaland's first was pure De Bruyne – timing, vision, weight. He dictated large spells of City's play but will be raging they didn't walk away with three points.
• Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool): Rock at the back and then popped up with that big, driven finish. Marshalled Haaland as well as anyone can, even if the big man still walked away with a brace.

For the neutrals, this was peak Premier League live drama. For fans of either side, this was 90 minutes of living on a knife edge.

What this does to the title race

This draw keeps the title race absolutely wide open. City miss a chance to pull away; Liverpool avoid a disaster but also know they could have landed a hammer blow with a win at home. The top of the football league table is now looking insanely tight, with just a handful of points separating first from third. Every dropped point from here feels like a mini-crisis, and every win feels like a cup final.

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

Elsewhere in Europe: Champions League chasers flex

It wasn't just England lighting things up. Across the continent, the Champions League news radar was buzzing. In Spain, Jude Bellingham once again stole the show for Real Madrid. Starting in his now trademark advanced role, he ghosted into the box to score the opener with a composed side-foot finish, before laying on a late assist for Vinícius Júnior. Final score: Real Madrid 2-0 opposition, with Jude Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior on the scoresheet.

Over in France, Kylian Mbappé reminded everyone exactly why he's one of the world's most feared forwards. PSG ran out 3-1 winners, with Mbappé netting twice – one ruthless near-post finish, one trademark cut-in-and-bend-it-top-corner special – and Ousmane Dembélé chipping in with a slick assist. When those two click, it's game over for most defenses.

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Opinion: Title race too close to call

Here's my take: this felt like a missed opportunity for both sides. Liverpool will look back at the Van Dijk goal and the waves of pressure after it and think they should have killed it off. City will point to the Haaland chances and that late spell of possession and swear they were one sharp pass away from all three points.

But if we're being real, neither of these teams looks ready to blink. Haaland is locked in robot-mode, Salah is still dragging Liverpool into big moments, and De Bruyne and Bellingham are playing like they're scripting their own highlight packages every week. From a neutral's point of view, this is exactly how you want the run-in: chaotic, emotional, and absolutely unforgiving.

Managers? Klopp (or his successor depending on the timeline) and Guardiola will say they're focused “one game at a time”, but you can see it in their faces on the touchline – every misplaced pass feels like a potential swing in the title race. In my opinion, whoever handles these pressure-cooker nights better mentally, not tactically, walks away with the trophy.

Wrap-up: Don't blink, you'll miss something

So, to sum up today: Haaland scores twice, Salah delivers again, VAR steals the headlines, and the title race stays razor thin. Abroad, Bellingham and Mbappé keep writing new chapters in their superstar stories. If this is what late February looks like, imagine what May is going to be.

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