Skip to content

3 talking points from Manchester City's entertaining draw against Liverpool

Andrew Yates / Reuters

Controversy, penalties, non-penalties, and much more.

Manchester City and Liverpool played out a wonderfully entertaining 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, producing 90 minutes of frantic football in which improbable misses and refereeing decisions defined the outcome. On another day, the game would have featured nine goals and a few red cards.

Here are three talking points from the frenzied game:

Fernandinho's evolution into a Brazilian right-back

Among the most iconic photographs from Brazil's 7-1 defeat to Germany is one of Fernandinho looking utterly distraught during the six-minute spell in which Die Mannschaft scored four goals. Playing as a defensive midfielder in a 4-2-3-1, he couldn't be relied upon to do anything, and he became one of the faces of Brazilian football's darkest night.

But, almost three years since the thrashing, Fernandinho is still representing Brazil, and it's largely because of a renaissance under Pep Guardiola, who is molding the player into the type of right-back the country is known to produce.

Since Guardiola arrived at the Etihad Stadium, Fernandinho is playing more and more as a right-back. City's draw versus Liverpool marked the third time the 31-year-old was deployed there, and he showed all the characteristics of a Brazilian full-back: attacking, involved in the play, an eye for goal. He spent a considerable amount of the first half in the final third and almost opened the scoring when he sent a low cross from David Silva just wide.

When Tite called up Fernandinho in October, it was a no-brainer for a national team that needed a replacement for Casemiro. But the Brazilian manager can also count upon the product of Atletico Paranaense in the event Dani Alves is unavailable for whatever reason, and that's because of Guardiola.

Liverpool continues its assault on the Premier League's top six

Guardiola once described Jurgen Klopp as "maybe the best manager in the world at creating teams who attack the back four with so many players," and it's because of that offensive mentality that Liverpool can be counted upon to give any of the Premier League's top six a hard time. Pressing, passing, and movement are the foundation of the German tactician's style of play, and it's proving to be a nightmare for English football's biggest clubs, whether it be at Anfield or away from home.

Not many teams tally 12 shots and eight corner kicks while visiting the Etihad Stadium, and, on another day, Liverpool could have grabbed three points on the road. The Reds' attacking play is why they are still the club to beat when it comes to head-to-head games involving English football's top six.

If Liverpool could learn how to dispose of the Premier League's weaker clubs, there wouldn't be a 13-point gap between the Reds and Chelsea.

Penalties and non-penalties

Michael Oliver, the referee, had a busy afternoon and found himself writing the narrative over the course of 90 minutes.

A draw felt fair given the back-and-forth rhythm of the match, but both City and Liverpool can feel undone by at least one of Oliver's decisions. Most notably, James Milner should have been sent off for depriving Raheem Sterling of a goal in the first half, but the foul wasn't seen and the versatile Englishman later found the back of the net from the penalty spot.

There was also Yaya Toure's manhandling of Georginio Wijnaldum, Nicolas Otamendi's clipping of Sadio Mane's leg, and Gael Clichy's penalty-box foul on Roberto Firmino. Some of the calls were more obvious than others, and the decisions made by Oliver shouldn't take away from what was a phenomenal game. That being said, the referee influenced the result in a big way.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox