MANCHESTER // Perhaps it was part of Brendan Rodgers’s attempts to deflect attention from his Liverpool team when he declared that the title was Manchester City’s to lose. Perhaps it was simply an accurate assessment of an ever-changing title race.

Whichever, there are probably more converts today to the City cause.

Liverpool, the overachieving underdogs in the top four, have lost their place at the summit. City have extended their impeccable home form. Nine games have brought nine wins and 37 goals: it is quite a record.

Yet it has never been threatened quite like this. Liverpool acquitted themselves rather better than Manchester United, Tottenham or Arsenal had done at the Etihad Stadium. They led through Philippe Coutinho and merited a point.

But for an uncharacteristic error by Simon Mignolet, but for a wrongly raised flag before Raheem Sterling put the ball in the net, but for a series of saves from Joe Hart, their progress could have been reflected by the result. They excelled.

And so the purist in Rodgers should take some solace from an engrossing, action-packed game. This did not have a surreal scoreline in the manner of Arsenal’s 6-3 defeat, but there were so many chances that Manuel Pellegrini, with his famously faulty maths, would have struggled to add them up.

It rather reinforced both sides’ reputations for regarding attack as the best form of defence.

Liverpool’s centre-backs Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho endured torrid evenings. Pellegrini’s great adventurers achieved the rare distinction of stopping Luis Suarez from scoring but their methods involved swarming forward at regular intervals.

The pivotal moment came on the stroke of half time. Without the injured Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo has assumed a greater importance. Minus his prolific partner, the Spaniard has continued to prosper. He has now scored in nine consecutive home games, even if the latest goal owed something to Mignolet.

The goalkeeper has been virtually flawless in an excellent start to life at Liverpool. Or he was until Negredo drilled a shot above his head and, rather than pushing the ball over the bar, Mignolet succeeded only in getting a touch that resulted in it trickling over the line.

Nevertheless, the swift counter-attack that preceded it, involving Samir Nasir and Jesus Navas, justified Pellegrini’s decision to bench Edin Dzeko and accommodate another attacking midfielder, in the World Cup winner.

Indeed, Navas had the game’s first noteworthy attempt, the diminutive Spaniard directing a looping header against the post.

Yet, a typically positive start from City prompted a fine response from Liverpool. Sterling was incorrectly adjudged offside before he put the ball in the net, although, with the whistle having gone, Joe Hart hardly tried to stop him.

It was a warning that City did not heed. Sterling resumed darting in behind their defence on diagonal runs and, when Suarez flicked Jordan Henderson’s pass into his path, the winger tried to take the ball around Hart. He succeeded, but was outpaced by teammate Coutinho, who steered the ball into the empty net.

The attacking trio of Suarez, Sterling and Coutinho almost combined for another goal when the Englishman found the Uruguayan, who teed up the Brazilian to shoot. The sprawling Hart made a vital save.

Before then, City had levelled. Vincent Kompany rose above Skrtel to meet David Silva’s corner and his header had sufficient power that Joe Allen’s efforts to prevent it crossing the line were in vain.

Meanwhile, the football continued to resemble basketball, the crowd fed a diet of end-to-end drama. Liverpool, accused of being timid travellers recently, played with great belief and no little skill, especially on the counter-attack.

Hart illustrated why he has been restored to the City goal by blocking from Glen Johnson and saving Henderson’s cute flick.

The otherwise excellent Sterling blotted his copybook by blazing over, when set up by Suarez.

The Uruguayan appealed in vain for a penalty.

Pellegrini took rare backward steps with substitutions to shore up City’s defence. They had been run close, but they have accelerated past Liverpool.

sports@thenational.ae