Pep Guardiola felt Manchester City had survived a “tsunami” after the champions’ crunch Premier League title clash at Liverpool on Sunday ended 1-1.

John Stones gave City a 23rd-minute lead in an absorbing contest at Anfield but the Reds hit back with an Alexis Mac Allister penalty early in the second half. Both sides had opportunities to win the game but Liverpool had spells of dominance and Guardiola was relieved to come through them. The result leaves the title race thrillingly poised, with Arsenal leading on goal difference from Liverpool and with City just one point behind with 10 games remaining.

City manager Guardiola said: “We spoke at half-time that in this stadium, if you have to defend something, you have to play and play and play. We gave away the penalty and, sooner or later, with this stadium, you have 15 or 20 minutes and it looks like a tsunami coming for everybody who has the ball. It is not easy but we never stopped trying to play. They had their chances, we had our chances and at the end of the game it (draw) is what happened.”

Liverpool wanted a penalty for this challenge by Man City's Jeremy Doku on Alexis Mac Allister.

Guardiola, whose side are chasing a fourth successive Premier League crown and a sixth in seven years, is pleased to be involved in the thick of another title race. He said: “Still there are 10 games to go, 30 points to play for, one point difference. The important thing is still we are there, after where we came from in previous seasons still we are there. Except one year when Liverpool won it with a lot of points, we were always there.”

The ball twice hit the Liverpool goal frame in the second half as Jeremy Doku struck a post and the ball also thumped off the bar after rebounding off Phil Foden, but the hosts felt they should have had another penalty late on. Doku appeared to catch Mac Allister high in the chest in stoppage time but referee Michael Oliver gave nothing and VAR did not overturn the decision.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had no doubt it should have been a spot-kick but did not want to make a fuss of it. He said: “Yes (it was a penalty) but whatever I think now will not change that. I think everyone in this room thinks, if he whistles a penalty, it is not a scandal. He hits him on the chest. Yes, he touches the ball before but does that make any difference on any position of the pitch if your leg is that high? Why would the guy in the VAR studio think that’s not clear and obvious? What must you have for lunch if you think that’s not clear and obvious? But I’m not angry. I really don’t care. I’m already over it.”

Klopp was pleased with the performance of his side, given their lengthy injury list, and is determined to battle on. The German, who is stepping down at the end of the season, said: “We would have loved to use one of the massive chances we created. “Yes, we are lucky when Doku hit the post but we played an exceptional football game. For us, besides the result, the most important information is that we are right there. We go the distance. For us it is probably a little bit like, how did we get through all that and that we are still there? It is crazy with all these games and the squad situation we have. Today I saw the best 53 minutes we had against Manchester City. It was exceptional how we played.”

John McGinn is sent off by referee Chris Kavanagh during Aston Villa's 4-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was satisfied with a point. “Obviously City have been very successful with the titles they’ve won and I think (almost) every game we’ve played against each other has been very intense, so difficult, quality all over the pitch and that’s why they won the treble last year," the defender said. “I respect that, but today the task for us was to win the game and do everything in our power to do that, and we had chances to do that in the second half, but to come away with a point is not a bad situation. We have to just focus on what’s next, be positive, and like I said many times in recent weeks we have to just enjoy the ride.”

Elsewhere on a busy Sunday in the English Premier League, Tottenham stepped up their top-four challenge with a convincing 4-0 win at 10-man Aston Villa, who had Scotland midfielder John McGinn sent off. Ange Postecoglou’s side took control with goals from James Maddison and Brennan Johnson early in the second half before Villa skipper McGinn’s straight red card for a 65th-minute challenge on Destiny Udogie. Son Heung-min and Timo Werner struck stoppage-time goals to seal the rout for Spurs, who moved within two points of fourth-placed Villa with a game in hand.

West Ham substitute Danny Ings struck a stoppage-time equaliser to deny former club Burnley victory in a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium. Ings stepped off the bench late on to salvage a point for the Hammers, who fought back from 2-0 down at half-time after David Datro Fofana’s opener for the Clarets and Konstantinos Mavropanos’ own goal. Lucas Paqueta pulled one back for David Moyes’ side early in the second period and Ings, an 82nd-minute replacement for Nayef Aguerd, equalised in the first minute of added time before seeing another effort hit the crossbar. Burnley leapfrogged Sheffield United off the foot of the table on goal difference, 10 points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest.

Brighton bounced back from their heavy midweek Europa League defeat in Rome by beating Forest 1-0 to dent the visitors’ survival chances. Andrew Omobamidele’s first-half own goal was enough to send Forest to a fifth defeat in their last six games in all competitions, leaving them one place and three points above the relegation zone. Brighton climbed to eighth place, five points adrift of the top six, ahead of the return leg against Roma on Thursday, when they will bid to overturn a 4-0 deficit.

Liverpool-Man City reaction: Guardiola says team survived tsunami, Klopp rues penalty call - 'what must you have for lunch'