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Not for the first time, but deep into added minutes, a Manchester City player had broken clear and had options.

Go for goal or find an unmarked team-mate. On this occasion, it was substitute Riyad Mahrez bearing down on Alisson and, eventually, he tried to chip for glory. Instead, had it been rugby, he would have chipped for a conversion. Over the bar and game over.

And that summed up City’s afternoon; summed up this thoroughly entertaining match. Because while Pep Guardiola’s side still hold the upper hand in the title race, they blew it here, make no mistake. They blew the opportunity to inflict a hammer blow on rivals Liverpool, blew the opportunity to land a clean psychological punch ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final.

Jurgen Klopp’s side had a purple patch early in the second half and showed their customary appetite for the fight but, with Kevin De Bruyne running the show, City had enough chances and half-chances to win with a smidgeon of comfort. In the final third, they lacked composure and chose the wrong option on too many occasions.

The old chestnut about needing a conventional striker will be produced again, but perhaps it was simply that the importance of the contest weighed a little bit heavy. Having said that, the importance of the contest did not stop these two teams producing some trademark,