Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was left to rue a missed opportunity as he feels their 2-2 draw with Liverpool has left their rivals still “alive” in the title race.

Manchester City were twice pegged back at the Etihad Stadium after Diogo Jota, and Sadio Mane cancelled out goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus.

It means there remains only a point between the pair at the top of the table with seven matches remaining. But Manchester City have the advantage in terms of the lead and their fixture list.

However, Guardiola admitted they had a chance to put the race to bed after a dominant first half against out-of-sorts opponents.

“It was a fantastic game from both sides, and both sides tried to win every game in all competitions. I had the feeling that with this result, we missed an opportunity, a feeling we left them alive,” said the Manchester City boss.

He added, “But I said to the team, ‘I don’t want one second of sadness’. I’m so glad and happy with the way we played. When you do many good things, the sadness is there, but I said ‘Forget it’.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp took a similarly pragmatic approach to their title chances. He disclosed that before the game, the result would be defining.

Klopp stuck by that assertion, even though he accepted it would be more difficult for his side with so few games remaining and no room for manoeuvre.

Asked if they now had to win their remaining seven matches, having been on a run of 10 consecutive league victories before this draw, the Reds boss said, “Yeah, I think that’s probably right. We knew it in January. If we wanted to win, we had to win 18 games. If there was one game we could draw, it was today.”

He added, “Now we have two massive games, Benfica (in the UEFA Champions League) and the FA Cup (semi-final) with Manchester City, and then it really starts. We are where we want to be, close to an incredible side, and I said a couple of times if you don’t have luck in life, you’re screwed.”

(dpa/NAN)