Haaland Penalty Breaks Anfield Hearts as City Stun Liverpool Late
- Manchester City reignited the Premier League title race with a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Liverpool at Anfield, sealed by a stoppage-time Erling Haaland penalty after Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunning free kick had briefly put the Reds ahead.
The Premier League title race took another sharp twist on Sunday night as Manchester City came from behind to defeat Liverpool 2-1 in a pulsating Round 25 clash at Anfield.
After a cagey first half filled with half chances and frantic pressing, the match burst into life midway through the second period. Liverpool finally found their breakthrough in the 74th minute through Dominik Szoboszlai, who unleashed a thunderous free kick from nearly 30 yards that flew past Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the net, sending Anfield into raptures.
The lead, however, lasted just ten minutes. City responded with composure and precision as Erling Haaland flicked on a delivery into the path of Bernardo Silva, who poked the ball through Alisson Becker’s legs to level matters at 1-1 and shift the momentum decisively.
As the clock ticked into stoppage time, the contest turned chaotic. Alisson rushed off his line and clattered into Matheus Nunes inside the box, leaving referee Craig Pawson with little option but to point to the spot. Haaland stepped up under immense pressure and calmly rolled his penalty into the bottom corner in the 93rd minute to complete the comeback.
There was further drama in the closing seconds as City thought they had added a third goal through Rayan Cherki, only for VAR intervention to rule it out after an incident involving Szoboszlai and Haaland. Moments later, Szoboszlai was shown a red card as tempers flared in the frantic finale.
The win marks City’s first league double over Liverpool since 1937 and keeps them firmly in the title hunt, cutting the gap on leaders Arsenal. For Liverpool, it was a painful night at Anfield, undone by late lapses despite moments of individual brilliance.
