Klopp and Guardiola serve up another EPL classic, but Arsenal are the big winners
Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola
Liverpool and Manchester City showed the Premier League what it will miss if Jurgen Klopp walks away at the end of the season.
Anfield played host to a typically full-blooded, high-octane clash of the titans in the last English top-flight match between Klopp and Pep Guardiola before the Liverpool manager resigned.
No wonder Guardiola says he will sleep easier if his old rival is no longer in his way.
He compared Liverpool to a ‘tsunami’ as the defending champions had to dig deep to survive long periods of pressure in the second half.
“Oh my God, they’re coming from everywhere,” Guardiola said on Sunday after a 1-1 draw that left second-placed Liverpool one point ahead of third-placed City.
Arsenal finished the weekend top of the table on goal difference, but the Londoners’ 2-1 win over Brentford on Saturday felt like a subplot compared to the last and possibly final clash between Klopp and Guardiola.
John Stones gave City a lead in the first half and Alexis Mac Allister equalized from the penalty spot after the break.
That only told part of the story of a tense encounter, with Luis Diaz missing a great chance to fire Liverpool into the lead and Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku battling it out for City. In stoppage time, Klopp felt Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty for Doku’s chest-high challenge on Mac Allister, only for VAR to have rejected the appeals.
“Why would that guy in the VAR studio think that’s not clear and obvious? What should you have for lunch if you think that’s not clear and obvious?” said Klopp.
Perhaps Klopp is mellowing as he counts down his final days at Liverpool, but he preferred to focus on the performance of his rebuilding and injury-hit squad.
“For us, besides the result, the most important information is that we are there, that we are going to the limit. Let’s see what we get for it, but the boys fought so hard through everything to be there,” said he.
“Today I saw the best 53 minutes we had against Manchester City. It was exceptional and also important that we learned that about ourselves.”
It would be fascinating to see how this team could develop under Klopp, who has transformed Liverpool so quickly following the departure of key players such as Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino.
Few expected him to mount a title challenge so quickly, let alone compete on four fronts this season with the League Cup already secured. Contrary to expectations, his team is also still in contention for the Europa League and the FA Cup.
A second league title during his reign is the priority and Liverpool have shown they can compete with a City team defending last season’s treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
Liverpool’s 2020 title is the only thing that stopped City from making it six straight wins under Guardiola in 2018.
Guardiola has repeatedly described Klopp’s Liverpool as the biggest challenge of his coaching career and has twice led him to the title by one point.
“He made us a better team, he made me a better manager. I would like him to come back soon because football needs personalities like him,” Guardiola said.
It’s shaping up to be another closely fought title race and time will tell how important a point at Anfield was.
The added factor this year is a third contender in Arsenal and Guardiola is as aware of the threat posed by Mikel Arteta as he is by Klopp.
“Arsenal came back last year and will stay there for a long time because they are a young team with an exceptional manager,” he said.
“Yet there are still ten games to go, thirty points to play for. One point difference. The most important thing is that we are still there, after where we came from in previous seasons, we are still there.”
SON STARS
Once upon a time, it was Harry Kane that Tottenham fans pinned their hopes on. Now it’s Son Heung-min.
The South Korean forward has helped fill the void left by Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich in the off-season and on Sunday he inspired Spurs to a 4-0 defeat by top four rivals Aston Villa with one goal and two assists .
Fifth-placed Spurs are two points behind fourth-placed Villa with a game in hand.
Son provided assists for Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner either side of scoring his 14th goal of the season in all competitions.
James Maddison had opened the scoring in a match that also saw Villa’s John McGinn sent off in the second half.
FOREST BLUE
Nottingham Forest’s survival hopes were dealt a blow after Andrew Omobamidele’s own-goal sent the relegation-fighting team to a 1-0 defeat at Brighton.
Forest, in 17th, are just three points above the drop zone and 18th is Luton, who have a game in hand.
Luton drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace on Saturday thanks to Cauley Woodrow’s equalizer in the sixth minute of stoppage time, which could be crucial in the battle to stay alive.
BURNLEY HELD
Danny Ings scored in the opening minute of stoppage time to deny Burnley a crucial win and secure a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.
Burnley led 2-0 through David Datro Fofana and an own goal from Konstantinos Mavropanos.
But thoughts of a first win since December 23 were ended by a West Ham fightback in the second half, with Lucas Paqueta scoring just after the break and Ings equalizing.
In any case, Burnley moved off the foot of the table and above Sheffield United on goal difference.
Sheffield United led 2-0 at Bournemouth on Saturday, but had to settle for a point after Enes Unal’s equalizer in injury time.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: March 11, 2024 | 4:31 PM IST