Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne shared similar feelings after Sunday’s pulsating 2-2 draw between the sides.
The two sides met at the Etihad in what was billed as a potential Premier League title decider, with the outcome leaving the scene unchanged – with City still leading the chase by a point ahead of the Reds. De Bruyne put City in front with a deflected effort that cannoned in off the post but their lead lasted less than 10 minutes after Diogo Jota's strike squirmed under Ederson in a goal that the Brazilian shot-stopper will not want to see again in a hurry.
Gabriel Jesus – back in Pep Guardiola’s side’s starting XI in the Premier League for the first time since New Year’s Day - restored City's side lead in the 37th minute, however less than 60 seconds of the second half had been played when Sadio Mane scored Liverpool's second equaliser of the game having latched onto Mohamed Salah's perfectly-weighted through ball – which is how the game ended.
Reds captain Henderson said after full-time: “It was an intense game which we knew it would be. We knew it’d be tough, fantastic team, we wanted to come here and give it our best and get the win but unfortunately, we couldn’t do that but at the same time we didn’t lose the game.
"But yeah, of course we wanted to do better but it’s not the end of the world. We’re still in the race so positives and negatives (to take).
Asked if it was a better point for Liverpool, Henderson replied: "We’ll have to wait and see. They don’t drop many points, we know that.
"We need to concentrate on ourselves, keep trying to win as many games as possible if they do slip up we need to be behind them. There’s still a lot of football to be played, it’s not the end of the world, we stay positive and keep going to the end.
"You’ve got to be prepared to suffer sometimes because they’re so good with the ball, they have so many chances. You’ve got to stay positive, can’t be negative from trying to give them too much time to pick the passes out, it worked at times. At other times, we could defend better especially for the goals.”
City playmaker De Bruyne – who opened the scoring - explained after the game: “It was hard. To be fair, I think we played excellent, I know we conceded two goals but the way we played today was very good should’ve scored more. It is what it is, we keep going. The quality, the intensity is there it showed today.
Asked if they should have won, he said: "It was a great game. It should have been but we were still winning, the way the second half started thats the disappointment. We know in chances Liverpool can score, we played great, created enough chances to win the game but it didn’t happen.
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Speaking on the impact that the result would have on the title race, the Belgian added: "Today we played very well, we had the upper hand, we didn’t win. But this is the way we need to play for the rest of the game.
"I think it’s similar (the affect a point has for both clubs). People spoke like whoever wins, the title goes to there, but I don’t think either team thought that. The schedule is tough for both teams to win the games, we’re going to try but the way we played today is the way we need to move forward.”
City and Liverpool will meet again in next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final before they will go toe-to-toe in the remaining seven rounds of matches in the Premier League.
