It looked like being another miserable trip to Anfield for Manchester City but they found a way to notch a huge win.
07:00, 09 Feb 2026
In the space of just nine minutes, the title race was turned on its head. From the brink of defeat and falling nine points behind Arsenal, Manchester City’s sensational comeback proved Pep Guardiola will fight until the bitter end.
Dominik Szoboszlai had put Liverpool ahead and let’s not forget City’s terrible second half record in the Premier League since January 1. City had not scored in the second half before Anfield, they had dropped seven points from goals conceded in second halves and that talked to them fading.
But the way City roared back at Anfield spoke volumes for their determination to push Arsenal and not give up. It had to be Bernardo Silva equalising. What a leader and warrior he has been during City’s glory years. He knows what it takes.
Then Erling Haaland’s wild celebration after he scored from the penalty spot showed how much it meant to the City players. The officials and their ridiculous jobsworth attitude robbed City of a third goal when common sense should have let it stand. Instead, Szoboszlai was sent off and the goal was chalked off. No-one wanted that.
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But this win was huge in the title race. If they had dropped nine points behind, the doubts would have crept in. You can be certain that Arsenal went from celebration to feeling flat because City had come back.
And you can also be sure that sent a message to Mikel Arteta that City will stay in the rearview mirror and will not give up. This is the team that has pipped Arsenal to the title in two of the last three seasons – and it feels like they have got the bit between their teeth again.
Marc Guehi was City’s standout player. He has brought a calmness and composure to City’s defence which really made a difference. He probably got very lucky when he pulled back Mohamed Salah and only got a yellow card rather than a red and that it was right on the edge of the penalty box.
But other than that, Guehi was terrific and City’s first half display was superb, even if they did not create too many chances. They exposed Liverpool’s frailties and even when Arne Slot’s men went ahead and were the better team in the second half still City did not surrender.
Incredibly, that was City’s first double over Liverpool in 89 years and their first win at Anfield in the Premier League since 2021 when it was in Covid times. You have to go back to 2003 to find a City win at Anfield in front of a crowd.
A lot of people think Arsenal are the best coached, have the best squad and are still favourites because, after all, they are six points ahead. But this will feel like more than three points for City. More than just a standard win. Because the title-o-meter went from fading chance to closing the gap.
City and Arsenal both have 13 games left and Arsenal also have to go to the Etihad. There is a long way to go yet. And now City will feel they have momentum and have put the fear factor back in Mikel Arteta’s squad.
City know what it takes. Arsenal know that City have done it before – and can do it again.
And that is why that crazy nine-minute turnaround felt so significant in this title race.
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