Liverpool 1 Man City 2: Where does this leave the title race? Was the late red card right?

Manchester City scored twice in the final minutes at Anfield to seal a 2-1 win against Liverpool and keep the gap to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table to six points.

An Erling Haaland penalty in stoppage time followed a Bernardo Silva equaliser to give City the three points when it looked like a defeat was on the cards.

But the game ended in chaos after Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off after a VAR check on a late strike into an open goal from distance by Rayan Cherki was disallowed for a foul by Haaland.

Earlier, Szoboszlai had repeated the trick of a long-range free kick against a team chasing the Premier League title at Anfield, adding a strike from distance against City to his decider against Arsenal in August.

The result leaves City six points behind leaders Arsenal, but they play again — against Fulham on Wednesday — before Arsenal face Brentford on Thursday.

Sam Lee, Gregg Evans and Mark Carey break down the action.

Why did VAR decide on a Szoboszlai red card and no third goal for City?

The game ended in both controversy and confusion as a breakaway City goal in the final seconds was chalked off in barely believable circumstances.

In a remarkable passage of play, City turned defence quickly into attack and thought they had scored a third goal through Rayan Cherki. With Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson out of his goal after deciding to join the attack for a late stoppage time corner, Cherki rolled the ball towards an empty net as players from both sides chased it down.

It quickly became a race between Haaland and Szoboszlai, although neither player ended up touching the ball as it trickled into the goal.

Both players were involved in a tussle during the race, though, first with Szoboszlai pulling back Haaland before finding a way to get in front of him, and then Haaland tugging back Szoboszlai a second later.

Referee Craig Pawson initially allowed the goal to stand after Haaland had been fouled first, but after a VAR check, Szoboszlai was then punished for the initial foul and sent off, and City were awarded a direct free kick instead.

It was a bizarre way to finish the game.

#LIVMCI – 90+10’ VAR OVERTURN

After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of goal to Manchester City.

Referee announcement: “After review, there is a careless foul by Erling Haaland, that pulls the shirt of Dominic Szoboszlai. Prior to that, Szoboszlai…

— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) February 8, 2026

Where does this leave the title race?

Well, you have to say ‘game on’!

City have found themselves trailing Arsenal in part because they have struggled so much in the second halves of games this season, with their inability to keep the ball in the face of mounting pressure really costing them.

Here, they could not wrestle control until Liverpool scored, but they did dig in defensively and looked much stronger in that regard — and then to stage a comeback is something that few would have seen coming.

Not just because City have only recorded three league wins here since 1953, but because they have looked lost on so many occasions when the other side have got their tails up.

To stand tall here in the face of everything — the Liverpool fightback, the goal, the whole history at Anfield, their own lack of possession for 30 minutes of the second half — could give them huge amounts of belief going down the final stretch. But time will tell.

Sam Lee

How good are Szoboszlai’s free kicks?

Yet again, Szoboszlai stepped up to score another stunning free kick that helped take his goal tally to nine for the season.

This particular strike was eye-catching because of the distance, yet he made the conversion look so easy with the sweet connection.

City’s defending will be questioned, not only because of the decision to set up with only two players in the wall, but also because they allowed a gap to form that gave Szoboszlai a clear route to goal.

That should take nothing away from the goal, though. It was as good a free kick as Anfield has seen and they now have a new set-piece specialist who is becoming a key threat at vital moments.

Szoboszlai scored the winning goal through a free kick against Arsenal earlier this season, but this one was even better. The Hungarian has now scored three free kicks in his last five games, following goals against Marseille and Bournemouth.

Gregg Evans

Was Liverpool’s man-marking risky?

There is always an extra layer of caution from managers in big Premier League clashes.

Knowing the quality that City possess in forward areas, Slot asked his defensive line to pay close attention to their opposite man. This was particularly notable with left-back Milos Kerkez, who would often shadow right-winger Antoine Semenyo into central areas with tight man-marking. Such was the strict instruction given by his manager that Kerkez would sometimes be positioned more centrally than left centre-back Virgil van Dijk when defending on Liverpool’s last line.

Van Dijk had his own issues to worry about, tracking Erling Haaland closely to ensure that the Norwegian powerhouse was unable to turn or get a run on Liverpool’s captain. Van Dijk was largely the more dominant of the two — particularly aerially — but Haaland still had his moments where he evaded Liverpool’s centre-backs.

Slot employed a similar hybrid man-marking approach in Liverpool’s away trip to Arsenal one month ago, combating the fluid rotations from their full-backs to track their men into pockets of space.

Some might think it is risky, but it felt more of a pragmatic approach from Liverpool — particularly in the first half, which was dominated by Pep Guardiola’s side. With a second half that was much more aggressive in possession from the home team, there was less focus on their out-of-possession work as the game wore on, but they rode the wave of Manchester City pressure with tight man-marking in the middle and defensive third.

Mark Carey

How did Guehi respond to the booing?

There was a yellow card for a pull on Salah, but most of Guehi’s afternoon was about smart, strong defending throughout — and City really needed that.

Liverpool probably deserved their goal given their second-half improvement, but City had done very well when under the cosh.

The problem Guardiola’s men had was not keeping the ball and that is a problem they need to resolve, but in terms of the old-fashioned digging-in stuff, they were committed and impressive. Rodri’s smart positioning in the box to make clearances, Gianluigi Donnarumma making some good interventions, and Guehi’s ability to sniff out danger, make blocks and win one-on-one duels really stood out.

Guehi was booed more in the first half than the second — due to his failed move to Anfield in the summer and subsequent decision to move elsewhere — but the fact he was able to quieten that down shows not just that he had fewer touches on the ball but that he was completely unfazed by any attempts to put him off.

Guehi fends off Ekitike (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Sam Lee

What did Slot say?

Asked about the big decisions going against his Liverpool side, Slot told reporters: “Do you mean the disallowed goal at City? The header from us? The penalty they got in the away game (in November’s 3-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium, where Giorgi Mamardashvili saved from Erling Haaland)? Do you mean the clear red card on Mo Salah in that second half? Do you mean the penalty they got in this second half? Over the two games, all the big decisions that could have been 50-50 (went City’s way).

“I can live with the fact, despite not liking it, that the referee follows the rulebook with Dominik (Szoboszlai), who makes a foul on Haaland — a clear shirt-pull when he was through on goal and would have scored. That’s a red card — the Sunderland manager will be really happy he gave a red card and followed the rulebook (Szoboszlai is now suspended for Wednesday’s trip to the Stadium of Light). If you follow the rulebook with a clear shirt-pull from (Marc) Guehi on Salah, who for eight years has been scoring from that kind of ball every time… If that’s not a red card… That’s more my frustration.

“I can live with the red card for Dom. If you like football, you say, ‘Just leave it as it is’. But you’re the Sunderland manager, you prefer to see the red card. Following the rules is all we ask. My main frustration is with the shirt-pull on Salah at 0-0 — he was one v one to the goalkeeper.”

What did Guardiola say?

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Guardiola said: “Liverpool had the momentum (in the second half), and after Szoboszlai’s free kick, a copy paste of the one against Arsenal, what a strike. What a player.

“At the end, belief from our captain; his character, personality, not giving up. In the end, we came back.

When speaking to Match of the Day, he was frustrated about VAR’s decision to intervene at the end of the game: “Come on referee, give goal and go home!”

What next for Liverpool?

Wednesday, February 11: Sunderland (Away), Premier League, 8.15pm UK, 3.15pm ET

What next for City?

Wednesday, February 11: Fulham (Home), Premier League, 7.30pm UK, 2.30pm ET