Liverpool should never have doubted lionhearted Alexander-Arnold’s versatility

Man City 1-1 Liverpool (Haaland 27′ | Alexander-Arnold 80′)

ETIHAD — Trent Alexander-Arnold stood before the Manchester City supporters with his finger on his lips, a study of celebration and defiance. His goal 10 minutes from the end rescued a Liverpool team seemingly slipping into submission. The call by Jurgen Klopp to flood the Etihad with red ambition went largely unanswered, until Alexander-Arnold put that impeccable right boot through the ball, sending a screamer into the City net.

It has been quite the fortnight for Alexander-Arnold, who emerged from the international break with his reputation as a midfielder enhanced by his England displays against Malta and North Macedonia. Though nominally a full-back in this contest, his hybrid tendencies found him in an advanced position as Liverpool broke.

It might yet be that his adaptability costs him a starting berth in either Liverpool’s or England’s midfield, but if his growing maturity continues to influence outcomes as it did here, he could just as easily be the first name on either team-sheet.

He delivered not only the goal but the big cat attitude demanded on occasions like these. Klopp is right. You can’t beat City sitting back. Liverpool had become uncharacteristically supine, and were hanging on at the end, yet left the Etihad with a point having inflicted upon City a second successive draw. And Alexander-Arnold was the lion who made that happen.

Before that, Erling Haaland was the difference. When Ridley Scott is casting around for his next cinematic superhero, he might consider a trip to the Etihad.

Not that Haaland needs the attentions of Hollywood’s foremost projector of masculinity to embellish his tale, his 50th goal in just 48 Premier League games the quickest to that marker in history.

One moment, a sliver of an opening and suddenly Liverpool were naked. A poor clearance from Alisson, not his first, spooned the ball to Nathan Ake. Haaland was encircled in red until he wasn’t. He stole a yard. Ake saw it. The pass was short and accurate.

Haaland’s touch took the ball forward and away from the defender in one great, galloping stride. Now it was one on one, just Haaland and Alisson. The ball was in a sense in the net before he struck it, the act of scoring following the goal that had already flashed through his head.

It was utterly ruthless. There had been nothing between the teams, and Haaland had barely featured. Then like Achilles, he burst from the ranks, a Homeric footballer as warlike as any we have seen, and a foe beyond the capacity or mortals to contain.

The preamble had focused on the gathering threat of Darwin Nunez and his fecund relationship with the remarkable Mo Salah. Nunez is quick and athletic, but he will never be Haaland. Maybe none can be since he combines such imposing physicality with a nerveless constitution and a cruel eye.

Behind Haaland, Manuel Akanji was the Herculean enforcer stepping out of defence to punch a hole in midfield.

This was the role conceived for John Stones, whose recent absence was thought to present a difficulty for Pep Guardiola’s construct. Stones was back on the bench here, not considered fit enough to start. Or maybe the necessity has faded with Akanji’s emergence as another all-rounder teased out of his defensive specialisms by Guardiola.

Haaland, Akanji, Rodri are the six-foot plus beasts that form City’s imperial guard, and until Alexander-Arnold popped up looked unbreakable.

Liverpool were composed enough but never quite believed themselves capable of ending a winless streak that stretches back to their last victory here in 2015.

The first save of the match was Ederson’s from Nunez, addressing a cross from Salah. It had been a game of chess to that point, each team mindful of the threat of the other. “Come on City” screamed the fans, wanting less of the stealth and more of the urgency that have come to expect.

The principal danger to Liverpool in the early stages was themselves, overplaying in the box.

Not a profitable solution with the like of Haaland and Jeremy Doku snapping at your laces. City’s big tactical play was to isolate Alexander-Arnold in the presence of Doku. This they managed once in the opening quarter with predictable results.

Doku’s rapid gear shifts momentarily paralyse defenders, injecting them with some unseen venom. Though his glide on the outside of Alexander-Arnold amounted to little in material terms, it did reinforce the idea of his potency. He was that all afternoon, a waspish threat that almost provided Haaland with a winner in the dying minutes. On this occasion Haaland’s radar was down and the header bounced wide.