In the last minute of added time, Erling Haaland, who had already broken an English goalscoring record earlier in the afternoon, rose majestically in the box to meet an inswinging corner from Julian Alvarez.

Manchester City should already have put the game out of reach by then but the scores were level at 1-1 and now the stadium held its breath. Haaland flicked the ball on and it seemed to speeding into the far corner but it slid on by.

On the touchline, Pep Guardiola went through a thousand agonies, dancing the dance of a tortured soul, rubbing his face with his hands, bemoaning his team’s mercifulness, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

City had toyed with Liverpool for parts of this game but they had never been able to put them away. They had never been able to establish any clear distance between them and the team that has been their leading rival for so much of the last ten years of City hegemony.

But after Haaland had scored his first goal against Liverpool in the first half and become the fastest man to 50 goals in the Premier League, Liverpool rode their luck, City lost their ruthless edge and Liverpool stole an equaliser through Trent Alexander-Arnold that they deserved for their refusal to submit.

Erling Haaland went close to snatching the winner for Manchester City in the final moments of the tight clash on Saturday

Pep Guardiola went through a thousand agonies, dancing the dance of a tortured soul, bemoaning his team’s mercifulness

Haaland bagged his record-breaking goal part way through the first half after incisive play from left-back Nathan Ake

The result did little to dispel the notion that City will win their fourth league title in a row this season. The strong belief is that the longer the season goes on and as players like Kevin de Bruyne and John Stones come back into the team, they will get stronger and stronger.

But Liverpool, who are doing a fine job for a team in transition, restated their credentials to be their closest challengers with this point. Arsenal may still be the team to push City closest but Liverpool are working towards a new rhythm with a new side.

At least City still have new lands to conquer. City have not lost or drawn a match at the Etihad since New Year’s Eve 2022. A win against Jurgen Klopp’s side would have been their 24th successive home victory in all competitions and would have broken a record set by Sunderland in 1892. They will have to embark on that quest all over again now.

City were missing Jack Grealish, who was left out of the squad through illness, and Stones only made the bench but they still dominated the opening stages of a game that pitted first against second.

Liverpool suffered their first alarm ten minutes into the game when Alisson sidefooted the ball straight to Phil Foden as he tried to break through City’s press. Foden was only 15 yards out and he made space for a shot but hit it straight at the relieved Liverpool goalkeeper.

Liverpool forged their first chance of the game five minutes later when Joel Matip burst out of defence and laid the ball out to Salah on the right. Salah cut inside and curled over a cross. Nunez glanced it goalwards but Ederson kept it out with a fine flying right-handed save.

Nunez ought to have scored a minute later when Dominik Szoboszlai threaded a ball through the City defenced to set him free. But Nunez took one touch too many and allowed Ruben Dias to tackle him and clear the danger.

Liverpool soon regretted that profligacy. Just before the half hour, Alisson, who was exuding nerves and uncertainty, miscued a kick out of his hands and sliced it into the air straight to Nathan Ake midway inside the Liverpool half.

Ake had been preferred to Josko Gvardiol and now he showed why. He took the ball down perfectly, slalomed between two Liverpool players and drilled a pass into Haaland. Haaland took it on the half turn and even though he scuffed his left foot shot, Alisson could not redeem himself. He got a hand to the shot but could only push it into the corner of the net.

Liverpool, who are doing a fine job for a team in transition, restated their credentials to be City’s closest challengers

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s first Liverpool goal since May earned the Reds a point at the Etihad

It was the Norway striker’s 50th goal in 48 Premier League matches for City, an astonishing record. Andy Cole had set the previous mark for the fastest to reach a half century of goals but it had taken him 65 matches to get to the target. Haaland is a phenomenon.

City were the dominant team. Bernardo Silva ran the game and Jeremy Doku was a constant threat down the City left where Trent Alexander-Arnold worked like a demon to try to keep him in check. Now and again, neither he nor Liverpool had any answer to Doku’s pace.

City were occasionally careless in possession and Guardiola sank to his haunches several times on the touchline, fearing Liverpool would punish them. But they did not. Nunez twice chose to pass when he might have shot, his confidence damaged by his earlier miss.

When City pressed for a second, they looked more likely to score. Alisson had to dive at full-stretch to push a low shot from Foden round the post at the end of a move that had started with Ederson drilling a pin-point pass out of his area to Bernardo Silva.

City should have gone two ahead six minutes after half time from another move that originated with Ederson. This time, Haaland controlled the goalkeeper’s throw out and played the ball to Julian Alvarez.

Jeremy Doku (right) was a menace to the Liverpool defence throughout the match, creating a host of dangerous attacks

City dropped their first points at home in 2023 and past up the chance to equal Sunderland’s record 24 straight home wins

Jurgen Klopp will be thrilled by his side’s resolve in earning a point, demonstrating the progress of his revamped roster

Alvarez swept it out wide to Jeremy Doku, who went past Alexis Mac Allister as if he wasn’t there and then laid the ball back into the path of Alvarez. Alvarez was ten yards out but he lifted his shot high over the bar.

The game settled into a stalemate. City appealed wildly for a penalty for handball after a piledriver from Rodri cannoned off Matip. Replays showed that the ball had deflected off the defender’s backside.

Liverpool had another escape a few minutes later. Alisson fumbled a corner from Alvarez under pressure Manuel Akanji and Dias prodded it into the net. Contact between the Liverpool goalkeeper and Akanji appeared to be minimal but referee Chris Kavanagh blew for an infringement and VAR upheld his decision.

City missed another opportunity to put the game out of reach when Doku escaped again down the left and fired another cross into the box. Haaland tried to prod it home but Liverpool scrambled it away.

Then, against the run of play, Liverpool equalised. It was an innocuous build-up. Salah retrieved an overhit cross on the right, turned and fed the ball into the feet of Alexander-Arnold. Alexander-Arnold took one touch on the run and then lashed the ball across Ederson and into the corner of the net.