Manchester City’s Erling Haaland converted a stoppage-time penalty to give his side a 2-1 victory at Liverpool on Sunday, narrowing the gap with Premier League leaders Arsenal to six points and breathing new life into the title race.

The Norwegian’s 21st league goal of the season capped a thrilling comeback after Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunning free kick put Liverpool ahead in the 74th minute, only for Bernardo Silva to equalise late before Haaland’s decisive spot-kick.

In a chaotic finale, City’s Rayan Cherki appeared to have scored from the halfway line after goalkeeper Alisson ventured upfield, with Haaland and Szoboszlai both sprinting and grappling as the ball crept over the line.

However, the referee disallowed the goal after a VAR check and awarded a free kick to City while Szoboszlai was sent off for tugging Haaland’s shirt.

“Come on, referee, give the goal and go home,” City boss Pep Guardiola told the BBC. “It was a brilliant advert for the Premier League. The first half was really good, and we lost a bit of momentum in the second half. Anfield can feel like that.

“What a strike from Szoboszlai, and after that, led by our captain Bernardo, we come back.”

City were staring at a nine-point deficit, but the victory keeps Pep Guardiola’s side in contention while Liverpool slumped to sixth place, now 11 points behind City.

The visitors dominated the early possession to silence the Anfield crowd, with Haaland nearly opening the scoring in the second minute when Silva played him through, but goalkeeper Alisson sprinted off his line to smother the attempt.

City’s January signing Marc Guehi received a hostile reception from the Liverpool crowd, with boos ringing out when he touched the ball – a pointed reminder of his failed summer transfer move to Anfield from Crystal Palace.

But the England defender kept his composure, snuffing out dangerous chances for Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike as Liverpool failed to get a shot on target in the first half.

Towards the end of the opening period, Salah screamed for a penalty after Silva tugged at him during a set piece as the Egyptian fell over attempting a shot.

However, neither the referee nor VAR spotted a foul, leaving the teams deadlocked at the break.

Having been second-best in the first half, Liverpool emerged transformed after the restart, firing four shots in 11 minutes as the Anfield crowd found their voice.

Ekitike missed two chances while Szoboszlai tested City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, before the Hungarian midfielder’s moment of magic arrived with a swerving free kick that sailed past the Italian, who could only watch as it found the net.

But City’s response was swift as they equalised 10 minutes later when Haaland headed a cross over the defence for Silva to score from the edge of the six-yard box.

The decisive moment came in added time when Matheus Nunes was brought down in the penalty area by Alisson after being put through on the right flank, allowing Haaland to step up and silence the crowd with his first goal at Anfield.

Haaland had scored one league goal since the turn of the year, and the striker celebrated by removing his shirt as City breathed a huge sigh of relief with three points in the bag.

“For the distance that we have to Arsenal, coming here it is the toughest place in the Premier League by far, but we needed to go for another goal,” Silva told Sky Sports. “When I scored, I was happy, but we needed another, and Erling got it.

“We could be closer to Arsenal … I feel the whole team knew before the game that if we lost it, then the title race was probably over. We felt like we needed to win.”