Slick Salah drives City away.

Mohamed Salah’s goal in the second half of Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City at Anfield put an end to their 21-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League (PL) and settled a contentious encounter.

The odd thing about this game was that, unlike many league games in recent years, it had not been called a “title decider.” Nevertheless, the Anfield crowd responded admirably, displaying the contagious enthusiasm that has enabled the Reds to go undefeated in the Premier League champions’ last 13 trips. The biggest opportunities in an exciting first half came from headers from Diogo Jota and Erling Haaland, which gratefully landed into Ederson’s and Alisson’s hands, respectively.

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Although neither defense had been overcome before halftime, the 0-0 HT scoreline was exceedingly unusual for recent Liverpool matches, when goals had been scored in 14 of the previous 16 games. After the restart, the ball was quickly placed into the net, with Phil Foden wheeling off in front of the visiting supporters after tapping in a rebound from Haaland’s initial attempt. The goal was disallowed due to a foul on Fabinho committed in the buildup by the Norwegian, which Anthony Taylor discovered while visiting his VAR monitor. This further fanned the flames inside the stadium as both teams yearned for the breakthrough.

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The visitors’ dominance increased as the half wore on, as Alisson once more stopped Haaland from scoring from the penalty spot. The visiting team’s unexpected weakness in front of goal provided the Reds with the ideal opportunity to hit them on the break, which Mohamed Salah did with 14 minutes left. The Egyptian scored his ninth goal against the Cityzens by latching onto a goal kick and whirling past Joao Cancelo to beat Ederson one-on-one in front of the Kop.

The game reached a fever pitch as focus shifted to maintaining their slim advantage, and Jürgen Klopp was sent out for his passionate objections over a possible foul on Salah by Bernardo Silva. This ultimately had little effect as the hosts earned three crucial points in their attempt to turn around their season, leaving Manchester City four points behind league leaders Arsenal.