John Stones: 'Manchester City a bit deflated by Liverpool draw'
The side led by Pep Guardiola — squaring up to Jurgen Klopp for the last time in the English top flight — to Anfield to face the Reds on the back of being knocked down to third in the Premier League table by Arsenal on account of the Gunners' beating of Brentford on Saturday.
A win for either competitor on Sunday would see them end the weekend looking down on the other 19 teams, otherwise Arsenal would continue to sit pretty at the summit with 10 games left to play.
Guardiola's outfit — in much better shape than their hosts in terms of injuries — made the brighter start to Sunday's game and took the lead in the 23rd minute, as Stones met Kevin De Bruyne's innovative corner to the near post and flicked the ball beyond Caoimhin Kelleher.
However, the treble winners subsequently came under the cosh against their hosts, who were awarded a penalty inside the first two minutes of the second half when Ederson clattered into Darwin Nunez.
Alexis Mac Allister converted from 12 yards before the visitors were forced into a goalkeeping change, as Ederson had picked up an injury in the process of challenging Nunez and was replaced by Stefan Ortega.
The German and his defenders were forced to repel attack after attack as the clock ticked down, but they were aided by the Reds' wastefulness and came within centimetres of a winner themselves, as Jeremy Doku struck the inside of the post.
However, the Belgian was then counting his lucky stars in the ninth additional minute, avoiding the concession of a penalty for brushing Mac Allister's chest with his boot, and the draw was
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