Man City 2-2 Liverpool: Honours even in heavyweight title contest

Sadio Mane’s second-half equaliser secured a point as Liverpool twice fought back to earn a 2-2 draw in a thrilling encounter at leaders Manchester City.

City started on the front foot and Raheem Sterling was denied superbly by Alisson early on before the Etihad erupted when Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring with a shot that deflected off Joel Matip in the fifth minute.

Liverpool’s response was swift and Diogo Jota levelled with a crisp finish from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s low cutback.

In a scintillating match the pendulum swung back City’s way as Gabriel Jesus provided a cushioned finish from Joao Cancelo’s cross for his first Premier League goal in 197 days.

Liverpool went in at the break trailing in a top-flight match for the first time this season, but they were back level within 46 seconds of the restart, Mane celebrating his 30th birthday with a clinical finish from a marvellous Mohamed Salah through-ball.

Virgil van Dijk made a huge block to divert Jesus’s 61st-minute goalbound shot before Raheem Sterling had an effort ruled out for offside following a VAR review three minutes later.

Salah and Jesus both fizzed shots narrowly wide before substitute Riyad Mahrez twice came close to snatching victory for City, firstly with a free-kick that clipped the post and then dinked finish that wafted over in added time.

The draw maintains City’s one-point lead at the top over Liverpool, who remain second on 73 points, with seven matches remaining.