#X A V I ♕ Posted January 4, 2019 Posted January 4, 2019 MANCHESTER, England — The first ball floated backward, spinning and arcing toward the net. For a second, it hung in the air, a foot or so above the white goal line. Manchester City, Liverpool, the Etihad Stadium crowd all held their breath. And then John Stones reached it, and sent it as far away from himself, from danger, as he could. Anthony Taylor, the referee, checked his watch for the goal-line technology reading that would determine if the entire ball had crossed the line before Stones reached it. He waited. Everyone waited. He shook his head. The slightest sliver of orange and purple leather had remained above the line — less than an inch. City could breathe again.The second ball — an hour or so later — traveled quicker, caught sweet by Leroy Sané’s left foot. It struck the sole of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s boot and flew past Alisson Becker’s outstretched hand. Its trajectory shifted, just enough. It struck the bottom of the far post, and skittered along the same white line. Another intake of breath. It clipped the foot of the near post. This time, Taylor did not need to look at his wrist.Fine lines, slender margins. Liverpool did not score, Manchester City did. Liverpool did not win, Manchester City did. It does not change everything: Liverpool remains at the top of the Premier League, four points clear of the reigning champion. But when the time comes to look back on this season, this result may have changed enough. That is how it felt when Taylor blew his whistle, confirming that Sané’s goal had been enough to seal a 2-1 victory for Pep Guardiola’s team, enough to end Liverpool’s 19-game unbeaten run, enough to evaporate the faint aura of invincibility that had started to attach itself to Jürgen Klopp’s team. You have 4 free articles remaining. Subscribe to The Times Manchester City’s players sank to their knees in ecstasy. The stands bounced and heaved. Guardiola — just moments removed from berating Martin Atkinson, the fourth official, for some perceived error by Taylor — embraced his coaching staff, and hugged his players. [More from Rory Smith: David Silva, Manchester City’s Key Piece, Is Now More Valuable Than Ever] Later, Guardiola would be asked if his captain, Vincent Kompany, should have been sent off, instead of receiving just a yellow card, for a first-half foul on Mohamed Salah: another fine line, another slender margin. Guardiola did not want to contemplate such a question “on a night like this,” he said. This was the moment, manager and players and fans had decided, on which the whole season would turn, when the slightest differences could have seismic consequences. Guardiola had made clear, in the days beforehand, that this was a game Manchester City could not afford to lose.
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