After the appeal for calm brought about by the moody history of this match, Manchester City and Liverpool provided a festive treat that raced along at 100mph and contained zero signs of bad temper until the 77th minute.
At that moment, Fabinho, as a substitute, made a scissor tackle on Rodri, who was tackled, and suddenly there was a melee with Jordan Henderson and Ilkay Gündogan flying into the fight The result was bookings for the top two, and it proved the rarest of flashpoints in the tie.
Instead, it was a feast of end-to-end play in which defenses went awry and neither team enjoyed control, although Pep Guardiola can point to City’s 57% possession overall and how they emerge victorious from an exhilarating fight.
The final score was 3-2, but it could have been 10-2 to City or, say, a 5-5 draw, so breathless and harum-scarum it was entertainment from start to finish. There were 20 seconds on the clock when Erling Haaland almost opened proceedings, galloping onto Gündogan’s pass, but with Liverpool open and Caoimhín Kelleher running out, the Norwegian fired the ball home. Forty-three seconds later and Darwin Núñez had a shot at Stefan Ortega’s goal, but the centre-forward saw how Aymeric Laporte had blocked it.
The fare was already wide open and fervent as Manuel Akanji this time had Haaland down the right as he found the unmarked Cole Palmer, who cut in from the left. The youngster should have scored instead of scoring for a close serve.
Erling Haaland gives Manchester City an early lead against Liverpool. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters
Palmer, however, made the best of amends when he formed the crucial link with Kevin De Bruyne as City opened proceedings. The latter hooked in from the left and Haaland rose and volleyed home his 24th goal of the season. This was the first route in the city, Joe Gomez left a viewer for a supernatural predator who seems to know exactly where to move before the mortals around him.
Palmer’s next act was a mazy run that saw him squirm into the area of a Liverpool team who were bewildered and well off the pace of their rivals. But then came the surprise of a draw which came as City switched off.
Joël Matip had plenty of time to slip the ball to an unmarked James Milner inside the home side’s box and he too was given zero pressure in relief of Fabio Carvalho who beat Ortega with ease.
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Both goals told the tale of two dodgy rear-guards, a thread that continued when Palmer popped up again to float the ball around as the Reds looked on. Riyad Mahrez continued and Haaland was close to adding a second. This, once again, came down City’s left – Liverpool were being drilled continuously there, but could do nothing about it.
City had welcomed their Merseyside neighbors unbeaten in their last five meetings (including the Community Shield) with November’s 1-0 loss at Anfield (league) and April’s defeat at Wembley (FA Cup semi-final). .
For this first post-World Cup outing, each manager introduced their alpha striker in Haaland and Mohamed Salah, who, before 6,000 of Liverpool’s traveling support, had not been offered an opening when the tie reached the interval.
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Instead, the Egyptian wizard had to watch as City launched more forays – twice De Bruyne shot down the right and attacked a team-mate – Gündogan, whose effort was blocked, and Nathan Aké, whose head he couldn’t beat Kelleher. Núñez, late in the half, spurned a great chance to put Liverpool ahead. Given the dissolution of the City, they could not have complained.
Instead, his dominance left Liverpool with only themselves to blame when, 67 seconds into the second half, he broke. Thiago Alcântara lost the ball in midfield, Rodri dropped it to the toes of Mahrez and after getting onto his preferred left foot, Kelleher had no chance.
City were ahead, for about a minute. On this occasion Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, replacing Carvalho, deflected the ball down the left flank and Núñez, embarrassingly for the defender, advanced on Laporte, squared the ball for Salah, who had missed Aké, and got Liverpool’s second draw.
Darwin Núñez greets Mohamed Salah after Liverpool’s second equalizer of the match. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
The next in the series of incidents was City going forward again. This was simple, too simple from Liverpool’s perspective, as Palmed gave De Brune a short corner and his ball was met by Aké’s head.
With more than half an hour to go, more excitement ensued. Andy Robertson blazed, Gündogan crashed into Núñez, Guardiola sent on John Stones, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden; then Núñez got away from Naby Keïta’s pass, Fabinho’s belly pushed De Bruyne’s effort off the line and Kelleher saved Foden’s follow-up.
Up next City, who travel to Southampton in the next round, had ended their winless run against their rivals and that was an excellent card for when the Premier League returns on Boxing Day.