John Stones said the Manchester City dressing room feels ‘deflated’ after a 1-1 draw with title rivals Liverpool at Anfield.
Manchester City missed the chance to go top of the table after a draw with Liverpool on Sunday, in an engrossing game between the two title contenders on Merseyside.
Stones scored the opener as the England centre-back bundled in from Kevin De Bruyne’s corner, as the visitors caught Liverpool sleeping with a well-worked set-piece routine.
City were unable to build on that advantage, however, as Liverpool dominated much of the latter period of the contest. The Reds were the better side after the break and levelled through Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty, after Darwin Nunez had been brought down by Ederson inside the box.
Both teams missed big chances with Luis Diaz the biggest culprit for Liverpool, while Jeremy Doku drilled a low effort off the post for the Citizens.
City, however, were forced to hold on late in the game and Stones said his side’s inability to take control of the game when leading has left the dressing room feeling deflated.
“We created quite a lot of chances early on in the game and probably could have taken them and been two or three up but that is football,” Stones said to Sky Sports.
“We know what we are in for coming here. We feel a bit deflated in the dressing room. We came here to win, but this is such a difficult place to come.
“I think the second half was more them than us and it kind of balanced out. We’ll take the point.
“Every game is a final for us. We treat every game like that. We have to continue, take the positives out of today and look forward to the next game.”
