Pep Guardiola reaction to Man City fans showed title race fear with Liverpool FC

There was a little over 20 minutes to go when Pep Guardiola turned to the Manchester City fans behind him and put his hands in his ears. He wasn't shutting out the noise, but wondering where it was.

Lunchtime kick-offs are never the best for atmosphere, but this fixture is the Premier League's biggest and the animosity between these two sides brings an edge that usually manifests itself morning, noon or night. Instead, a game that never really caught fire on a freezing cold day felt like it kind of drifted along. Guardiola wanted more from the fans, but the fans probably wanted more from their team.

Erling Haaland's record-breaking first-half goal - his 50th in 48 Premier League games - threatened to give the game lift-off, but it felt like the second half got cooler than the first at times, certainly from a City perspective.

City failed to win key battle vs Liverpool

City player ratings vs Liverpool

There was the odd threatening break, a Ruben Dias goal controversially disallowed and a good chance for Haaland, but little more than that. Haaland spent much of the second half following Joel Matip up and down the pitch for Liverpool corners. Klopp's side weren't exactly knocking the door down, but the game was being played in the City half and that was why the decibel level had decreased inside the Etihad.

That was never going to be acceptable to Guardiola, who has consistently demanded support when his team needs it most during his time at the club. The atmosphere has improved markedly in recent years, but after these two teams had produced so many classics of late, this slow-burn of a contest didn't produce the fireworks that usually ignite the crowd.

City might have felt they were doing enough to control