Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne missed a potential match-winning penalty as Pep Guardiola's side were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Liverpool in the Premier League on Monday (NZ time).
Liverpool knew victory would see them leapfrog Leicester City and Tottenham - who both had 1-0 against Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Brom respectively - but manager Jurgen Klopp is still pleased with the result, given his side had lost their last three visits to the Etihad stadium.
Both goals, a Mohamed Salah spot-kick for Liverpool and a fine turn and finish from Gabriel Jesus for City, and the missed penalty came in a pulsating opening 45 minutes in which the last two league champions produced some exciting football.
Yet the quality and entertainment faded badly after the break.
Klopp answered the question of whether to replace Roberto Firmino with the in-form Diogo Jota by picking both players in a very attacking lineup and unsurprisingly his side began positively.
The visitors took the lead in the 13th minute when Sadio Mane turned sharply in the box and went down after contact from Kyle Walker and Salah converted the spot-kick.
An even better turn produced City's equaliser in the 31st minute when De Bruyne found Jesus in the box and the Brazilian's superb twist set him free of Trent Alexander-Arnold and earned him just enough space to poke past Alisson.
City then wasted an opportunity to take the lead, three minutes before the interval, when De Bruyne missed a penalty - awarded after his cross struck the arm of Joe Gomez and referee Craig Pawson gave the spot-kick after checking the pitchside monitor.
Yet the excitement of the opening 45 minutes was not replicated after the break as City gained greater control but struggled to create real openings.
Ederson did well to save from Diogo Jota at the near post and at the other end Jesus was off-target after being found unmarked in the box by Joao Cancelo.
Earlier, Leicester went to the top of the standings with a tense 1-0 win over Wolverhampton in which striker Jamie Vardy scored one penalty and had another saved.
Vardy made no mistake with his first spot-kick in the 15th minute after Wolves were penalised for handball when Dennis Praet's cross hit Max Kilman's hand, the 33-year-old England international sending keeper Rui Patricio the wrong way.
He stepped up again six minutes before halftime when Rayan Ait Nouri brought down James Justin, but struck his kick straight down the middle and into the legs of the goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, Harry Kane's late header earned Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 victory at struggling West Bromwich Albion.
Also, Aston Villa returned to winning ways in stunning fashion as Ollie Watkins scored twice in a 3-0 away thumping of an abject Arsenal.
Reuters
