What did Henderson say?
In reflection of the game overall, [player 323] said, “It was an intense game – as we knew it would be. It’s always going to be tough, City are a fantastic side. We had some good moments, not-so-good moments. But second half, I thought we reacted really well, a much better performance [in the] second half and unlucky not to probably win the game in the end. A little bit of disappointment but I thought we reacted well after coming in at half-time, because I thought we didn’t perform to the levels we’re capable of in the first half. So, we showed a lot of positivity in the second half and a much better performance.”
He was also asked about what was missing in the first half, he replied, “We just weren’t applying the pressure high enough. We sat a little bit deep and weren’t getting pressure [on them]. They were finding too many spaces and creating overloads. We managed to sort that out, I think, at half-time and one or two things that we could do to improve that. We managed to do that and it changes the game in our favour a little bit. We managed to get in the lead twice and we just couldn’t see the game out.”
He also spoke on the fact that his side gave up a one goal lead on two occasions, saying, “Yeah, it is a little bit frustrating, especially when you go – [for] the second time – in the lead and there’s 12 minutes left on the clock. I think we can see the game out better. But overall, we’ve got to learn from our mistakes. It’s not the end of the world – there’s still a long way to go. Take the positives and learn from the things we didn’t do so well and be better in the next game.”
What changed in the second half for Liverpool?
Playing at Anfield, attacking the Kop end against any side, the reds are expected to be on the front foot. Of course, Pep’s Man City are a different challenge. Still, [coach 455353] has always had the edge over [coach 455361] from their days back in Germany.
[team 8] started the game well but were on the back foot for the majority of the first half. In the last 15 minutes, they were literally hanging on. It was quite unusual as Liverpool are often unstoppable when they attack the Kop end. However, [team 9]’s dominance was clear, but they were missing good chances.
The first half ended with no goals so far, and it was a sigh of relief for the home fans. Klopp must have spoken some harsh words in the halftime as his side were poor.
In the second half, everything changed. Liverpool’s intensity was a few gears up, and City were now struggling to hold onto the ball. The German also made small tactical variations as Salah was dropping deeper to create more space.
Liverpool took the lead in a stunning transition attack. Salah skipped past a City player before playing a perfectly weighted pass into [player 1389]’s path, whose finish was immaculate. Anfield was bouncing, and Pep’s side were struggling. However, they did come back into it as they equalised ten minutes after going behind.
It was clear that both sides only wanted the three points as no one aimed to slow the game down. With fifteen minutes remaining, [player 4125] scored a goal for the ages for the fans to remember. He received the ball on the right side before skipping past three City players. He then turned [player 186299] inside out before finishing with his right foot into the far side.
Liverpool were leading for the second time but not for long as City equalised five minutes later. [player 1371] took a left-footed shot deflected in off [player 1920], who was trying to block it. [player 129820] had it covered, but the deflection took it away from the Brazilian and City were levelled again.
After leading twice in such a big game, it was poor of Liverpool to drop two points. However, after the first half, many will say that a point is not that bad. It was a game of two halves with both sides giving it all. Once again, a modern title rivalry did not disappoint.
Fixture Details: [fixture 18138668]
Author: Devashish Akolekar
