X reacts as Liverpool and Man City play out thrilling draw at Anfield

It's fair to say Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola's final Premier League clash lived up to the hype on Sunday, as their teams played out an enthralling game at Anfield.

An Alexis Mac Allister penalty early in the second half canceled out John Stones' first-half effort, ensuring the points were shared between the title rivals.

Here's how social media reacted to the game.

Rather than the players who were starting the game, all of the pre-match talk was dominated by the absentees from Liverpool's lineup.

Despite featuring on Thursday in the Europa League, Mohamed Salah wasn't deemed fit enough to start, while centre-back Ibrahima Konate's injury concern picked up in midweek meant he wasn't included in the matchday squad at all.

Salah's absence from the starting XI received a particularly mixed reaction from Reds fans.

There was also some discontent about Konate being risked by Jurgen Klopp in Liverpool's expectedly comfortable win over Sparta Prague on Thursday, too.

After an opening 20 minutes in which the injury-riddled Liverpool more than held their own against a full-strength Manchester City, the visitors' quality eventually told in the 23rd minute.

The recently fully-fit Kevin De Bruyne curled a delightful ball into the near post area to Stones and the centre-back made no mistake with his volleyed effort, sweeping past Caoimhin Kelleher and into the net.

While Man City fans rejoiced, Liverpool fans were left aggrieved by the lack of VAR intervention in the goal.

A sly block at the near post from Nathan Ake on Mac Allister which created the space for Stones to run into drew quite a bit of ire.

City would hold onto their lead throughout the remainder of the first half, with both sides missing a few half chances before the whistle.

At the start of the second half, the Reds were gifted a chance to draw level when a calamity of errors from Ake and Ederson resulted in a penalty kick being awarded to the home side.

Ake's ill-timed back pass to his goalkeeper was cut out by the onrushing Darwin Nunez, who was then chopped to the ground by Ederson on the right of the penalty area.

Up stepped Mac Allister to take the spot kick and the World Cup winner made no mistake from 12 yards out, curling past Ederson and into the side-netting.

Game on.

Things went from bad to worse for Ederson after conceding the penalty kick. After lumbering on for a few minutes, the City number one was forced off with an injury picked by bringing Nunez to the ground in the box.

Ederson's substitution coincided with Salah coming off the bench for Liverpool - two changes which completely changed the complexion of the game in the hosts' favour.

As expected, Salah made an immediate impact, creating chances for his teammate Luis Diaz.

The only issue for Liverpool was Diaz didn't bring his shooting boots to Anfield, missing three gilt-edged chances in quick succession.

After that flurry of squandered opportunities, a surprising tactical tweak from Pep Guardiola - taking De Bruyne off - allowed City to wrestle back a bit of control in the game...even though De Bruyne wasn't too happy about it.

That change, which saw Phil Foden move into a more central role, resulted in the visitors' first real chance of the second half.

A delightful cross into the box from Jeremy Doku resulted in Kelleher punching the ball directly off Foden and onto the crossbar.

A close shave for the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper, to say the very least.

City would hit the upright once again late in the game, with substitute Doku racing into the left-hand side of the box before drilling across goal and off the foot of the post.

Doku was also in the thick of the action at the other end in the final moments of the game, when his rather rash attempt to clear the ball resulted in the wide forward seemingly clattering Mac Allister in the chest.

Despite appeals from Reds players and fans alike, a VAR check resulted in a penalty not being given.

That would prove to be the final action of a thoroughly entertaining 1-1 draw.

And although both sides will be fairly happy with the point gained from the draw, there's no doubt Arsenal fans were the cheeriest of the title-chasing bunch on Sunday evening.

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