GettyImagesAfter taking advantage of Martin Skrtel's howler to score the equalizer, Carlos Tevez had yet another message to send.
Last week, after Liverpool fell to West Brom 3-0 at the Hawthorns, Brendan Rodgers told supporters that things would get worse before they got better, a grim admonishment from the new man in charge that Liverpool had officially taken on “project” status. Give them time, don't rush to judgment.
Then again, City manager Roberto Mancini had said that Liverpool is a title contender this season. Daft talk -- or a manager trying to downplay expectations as his defending champion City learns what it feels like to repeat in the Premier League. Heavy is the crown and all that.
After 90-plus minutes of an absorbing 2-2 tie at Anfield, we learned that both Liverpool and Manchester City are coming to grips with different kinds of pressure. One, trying to remodel itself into a possession-based side and crack the top four again. The other, coping with the pressures that come when everyone expects you to win, because you're no longer chasing United at the top.
The match played out in ebbs and flows, with both sides probably content with a point, though given how Liverpool gifted one, if not two goals, the result will stick in the craw of Rodgers & Co.
City started out the dominant side in Mancini's three-at-the-back formation (an experiment we saw during preseason), with Aleksandar Kolarov and James Milner acting as wing backs. But aside from Carlos Tevez's one serious attempt on goal in the 19th minute, the Sky Blues didn't create much. Yaya Toure was too busy holding down the midfield to create havoc upfield, and David Silva -- coming off a stinker versus West Brom -- was benched.
As for that one chance, Tevez raced down the right channel and squibbed the ball past Pepe Reina, only to see the ball dribble along the goalmouth and bounce off the post. Ironic, of course, with the post -- the devil's bane for Liverpool last season -- coming to the Reds' rescue. When the ball dribbled out, though, Mario Balotelli was nowhere to be seen. Well, Mancini noticed that his striker wasn't charging up to try to score. The ever dapper Italian scolded Balotelli, a remonstration that carried more than a hint of a disgruntled father upset with his brilliant misfit son.
Luck, or at least strange fortune and a dubious refereeing decision, would play key roles in what was otherwise a cagey, tactical affair.
In the 34th minute, Steven Gerrard -- looking strong, active and incisive with his passing -- sent a ball into the box, only for Vincent Kompany to block the ball over the net in what was, almost, a diabolically awful own goal. On the ensuing corner, again from Gerrard, Martin Skrtel charged forward, cutting through City's zonal marking to soar in the air and hit a pile-driver of a header past Joe Hart.
Ah, Liverpool giveth to its fans, then taketh away. Mancini took Samir Nasri off in the 60th minute for Jack Rodwell -- whose misplaced pass that led to a Southampton goal last week proved the former Everton player has much to learn. But his inclusion on Sunday allowed Toure to get further up the pitch. And so, with shades of City's penultimate match against Newcastle last season, Tevez crossed the ball into the box in the 63rd minute. Reina mishandled the ball, which bounced off Martin Kelly right to City's Big Man On Campus.
Toure to the rescue. Again.
But City, which missed the link play between injured Sergio Aguero and Tevez, should feel a bit hard-done by what happened next. In the 66th minute, Gerrard blasted a shot a few feet in front of Rodwell, the ball bouncing off his leg before slamming into his arms. Handball? Referee Andre Marriner thought so, but there was nothing deliberate about Rodwell's contact with the ball -- it was more self-protection than anything.
On the free kick, Luis Suarez had his moment. The Uruguayan striker has become the poster boy for profligacy. Like a blockbuster motion picture that dazzles with special effects but has a plot that goes nowhere, Suarez has been plagued with wasteful finishing during his career with Liverpool. No one is better on the turn, and the man can nutmeg anyone in his sleep. He opens up space, and finds some of his own. But that end product too often proves elusive. Not this time, however, as Suarez curved in a delightful ball past Hart at the near post.
Anfield was rocking and Liverpool just had to see the match out. Raheem Sterling looked terrific down the left, pacy and fairly accurate with his deliveries. "Little" Joe Allen, as the commentators called him, was efficient and tidy in his passing and closing down. Some slick interchanges in the final third saw Liverpool maintain 49 percent of overall possession, and Fabio Borini, who has started all of Liverpool's games this season, did miss a gilt-edged chance in the 17th minute when Sterling hit a beautiful cross, only for the Italian to miss the shot with his right foot.
But Liverpool's hero on the day, Skrtel, had what in some quarters might be termed a "brain fart" when his back pass in the 80th minute went right to Tevez. With the crowd groaning, the Argentine juked around Reina to finish into an empty net.
That's how the score would end, 2-2. City continues to show its habit of falling behind, only to dig itself out of trouble. You half thought it would do it again in the final minutes of a frantic ending. But you can only call upon a side's ability to nip victory from defeat (or a tie) so many times. With the array of talent they have, there should be no reason the Sky Blues don't stay on the front foot more often. As for the result at Anfield, both goals were a bit of a gift, especially the second, and Mancini should be more than happy to come away with a draw.
All in all, a fair result for both sides, though Liverpool will be the one kicking itself. That said, Reds fans can take solace from a vastly improved performance, one that proves Rodgers' “project” is heading in an agreeable direction.
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