Only Georginio Wijnaldum’s weak penalty, saved by Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the shoot-out, could split the teams ahead of what promises to be an intriguing season as Liverpool look to prevent Pep Guardiola from making it three back-to-back Premier League titles.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring thanks to a blunder by Alisson Becker in the 12th minute and after a much-improved second-half display, Liverpool were able to level the scores thanks to substitute Joel Matip’s equalising header.
If anything, Liverpool looked the more likely to nick the win in extra time with Bravo already the hero for getting City as far as the shoot-out – aided and abetted by a remarkable acrobatic goal-line clearance by Kyle Walker in the final minutes.
More importantly, perhaps, is that with both teams committing the game fully, it was possible to get a taster for the battle between the two that lies ahead and also a flavour of what is in store for Premier League club fans up and down the country when the 2019-20 campaign swings into gear properly at Anfield on Friday night.
Kevin De Bruyne may not be quite as unsung a hero any more
There were boos from the Liverpool end when the Manchester City No 17 was named as the official man of the match ahead of the penalty shoot-out before the winners had been determined.
Even before the spot-kicks, there could be no doubt he was the best, most decisive player on the pitch – as he so often is.
Pep Guardiola is frustrated that the Belgium international does not seem to get some of the world class accolades that the Manchester City manager clearly feels he deserves.
But if he keeps making the runs that left Liverpool’s defensive organisation in tatters and kept Jurgen Klopp’s team on the back foot for the opening 45 minutes, everybody will have to sit up and take notice.
Salah will be the man to beat in the race for Golden Boot this season
He may have struggled to find the net with three decent early chances and goodness knows how Kyle Walker managed to keep out that final header.
But the fact that Mohamed Salah is finding these positions so early in the campaign against a team like Manchester City has to bode well for when he sprinkles those boots again with the goalscoring magic.
This is the third season in the Premier League with Liverpool and still nobody seems to have worked out how to stop him wreaking so much havoc from the space he finds out wide on the right.
Pep Guardiola cares as much as ever
Booked for trying to copy John Cleese’s silly walk in protest over Joe Gomez’s horrible tackle on David Silva, it was not just the officials who were getting an earful.
Every kick seemed to provoke some sort of remonstration from the City boss, with John Stones’ ear being even further bent on a number of occasions and Guardiola continues to hone his side in preparation for the start of the season proper next weekend.
Back-to-back titles is clearly not enough for Guardiola who will again be demanding 100 per cent from his players every time they step over the line.
VAR might just work after all
For once, it seems, we can talk about the football after a showpiece game such as this rather than the intrusion of technology. But that’s not to say the VAR was not whirring away in the background at Wembley.
A clash involving Mo Salah prompted an announcement and a message on the screen that there was a VAR red card investigation in place. Then it was made loud and clear that no card would be necessary. People understood what was going on.
That is crucial if this is to become a useful tool to ensure fair play or an irritation for fans who actually take the trouble to go to make these such great occasions.
The short goal-kick is going to become ‘a thing’
Pep Guardiola has always been one of the game’s great innovators and the change in the rules which says that goal kicks no longer have to go out of the box offered him a new opportunity to pull something from his sleeve.
Cue Nicolas Otamendi being told to stand alongside Claudio Bravo in the six-yard area to start the slow build-up from the very back.
All of which bodes well for the season when lesser teams try it and muck it up completely with hilarious consequences.
