Liverpool 1-2 Man City: FIVE chaotic moments from an all-time classic

With 83 minutes on the clock, a sensational Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick looked to have all but handed Arsenal the Premier League title.

What followed was scarcely believable. But picking through an absurd and iconic 20 minutes at Anfield, the headline is clear: Manchester City have seized the moment – and the title race is on.

Here, football writer Alex Keble looks at the five key moments from an instant Anfield classic.

Szoboszlai’s stunning free-kick appears to hand Arsenal the title

Right up until the 83rd minute it looked like one of the goals of the season had handed Arsenal a nine-point lead at the top of the table, all-but ending the race.

From all of 40 yards, Szobozslai smashed the ball in off a post, with Gianluigi Donnarumma rooted helplessly to the spot.

Watch: MUST-SEE angle of Szoboszlai's free-kick

A strike of such extraordinary quality was, surely, going to be the most iconic thing about this game…

Bernardo equalises out of nothing – and picks up the ball, sensing the moment

Liverpool dropped deep after scoring, perhaps inviting pressure, but still, Man City’s equaliser came out of nothing: a hopeful deflected cross fell kindly for Erling Haaland to flick the ball on and Bernardo Silva reacted fastest to poke it home.

Anfield fell silent and just like that, momentum shifted dramatically. Bernardo, for one, sensed it, grabbing the ball out of the net and running back to the halfway line.

“I wanted him to celebrate more,” Haaland said after the game, acknowledging that Bernardo’s action helped focus minds.

“I feel the whole team knew before the game that if we lost this game probably the title race is over,” Bernardo told Sky Sports, explaining his decision.

“We felt like we needed to win, so obviously that puts us a bit closer. The hope is there. We are going to fight until the end.”

Haaland scores penalty that puts Man City back in the hunt

From that moment on there was a sense of chaos in the air; the sense this game had become ragged.

It certainly had for Milos Kerkez, who began to wander around the pitch to man-mark Rayan Cherki. Dishevelled, he could be seen bent over, hands on hips, just moments before he was at fault for the next major incident.

Kerkez was caught well out of position when a simple ball over the top, clipped into Liverpool’s left-back zone, saw Matheus Nunes go through on goal and get brought down by Alisson.

Watch: Haaland's first EVER Premier League goal at Anfield

Haaland, who missed an early chance before being practically anonymous prior to his headed assist minutes earlier, had to wait for the VAR checks, during which time Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister were seen getting into his ear. 

All three were smiling, enjoying the gamesmanship, but only Haaland’s remained once he had slammed the ball into the corner of the net.

“I was really nervous right before, all my thoughts were just about putting it in the back of the net,” Haaland told Sky Sports. “It was an incredible feeling."

It was also his first Premier League goal at Anfield - he's now scored at 23 of the 24 stadiums he's played at.

Donnarumma makes an outrageous save to keep City in the lead

There were more twists to come, and in the highlights reel that will be shown for years to come, there will be a shot of Donnarumma, at full stretch, making a truly outrageous save from Mac Allister’s deflected shot.

Very few goalkeepers in the world could have pulled that off. The speed with which he had to shift his feet following the deflection, and the reach with the right arm, was out of this world.

Just ask Guardiola, who celebrated the moment by jumping up and mimicking the shape of Donnarumma’s save, a bizarre image in keeping with the game.

Watch: Pep RECREATES Donnarumma's incredible save

It was just one of a number of big emotional moments from the City manager, who spent many of those final 20 minutes with his head in his hands, pacing manically.

His reactions were frenzied, like a “demon” in the words of Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville. Guardiola, too, seemed to sense that this game was the moment Man City truly came alive and put Arsenal in their sights.

Man City score a crazy goal on the break – but it's ruled out and Szoboszlai is sent off

But the best was saved for last. Alisson, who stayed in the final third for a good couple of minutes, was out of his goal when the ball broke to Cherki on the halfway line.

He intelligently decided to roll a through-ball along the ground for Haaland, now left in a foot race with Szoboszlai: the man who scored the opener, the man who tried to put Haaland off before his penalty.

What ensued was more befitting of the Super Bowl. Szoboszlai pulled on Haaland’s shirt, preventing him from getting a touch, so Haaland did the same, deliberately tugging Szoboszlai to the floor… and amid the grabbing and grappling, the ball simply trickled all the way into the net.

Watch: The CRAZY ending to the match

Cherki celebrated scoring probably the most bizarre goal in Premier League history, only for it to be disallowed because of Haaland's foul on Szoboszlai, who was then sent off for his own foul on Haaland.

Not that Man City will mind. Pep Guardiola’s second-ever win at Anfield has cut the lead at the top back to six points. But the manner in which they have done so will make that gap feel smaller to Man City – and possibly to Arsenal as well.

Throughout a frustrating January of draws, Man City supporters were waiting impatiently for the moment their team would come alive; would sense the opportunity Arsenal had handed to them and click into gear.

Finally they have done so, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory in extraordinary scenes.

When the dust settles, Man City will look back on the most significant result of their 2025/26 campaign so far, cutting the gap at the top back to six points.