Mohamed Salah breathed new life into Liverpool's season as his second-half strike earned the Reds a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in an absorbing contest at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp's side still have work to do to catch up with their great rivals but at least they looked a match for City, no small achievement after a difficult start to the season. With Salah on song though, nothing is impossible.
Precious few chances came the way of either side in an intriguing first half, one where Erling Haaland headed too close to Alisson at one end whilst Andrew Robertson crashed over the bar after Ederson could only tip James Milner's cross into a dangerous area. After recent difficulties in the top flight, this match was a healthy reminder of how effective Liverpool can be against the best opposition and even in City's most dominant moments early on the hosts' goal was never under unbearable pressure.
It took until the 50th minute for this game to reach the standard of its forbearers. When these two do deliver, however, there is nothing like it, that thrilling cocktail of footballing excellence and occasionally baffling decision-making under pressure. The touchpaper moment had both, Mohamed Salah bursting away from a slipping Ruben Dias and into the box only to roll the ball wide of goal. Ederson had done magnificently to get a glove on the shot. He would have had no chance if Salah had squared to an unmarked Diogo Jota.
Seconds later City thought they were leading, Haaland having poked the ball away from Alisson for Phil Foden to thump into the net. However, the Norwegian's claiming of a chunk of Fabinho's shirt in the build-up meant Anthony Taylor was swiftly overturning his initial decision. This was breathless stuff and moments later it was Liverpool cursing their luck when Salah's gorgeous cross with the outside of his boot was flicked over by Jota.
The Egyptian was at the heart of the contest and it increasingly felt like one of he or Haaland would win this game for their respective sides. It would prove to be the former, taking down Alisson's long goal kick and spinning Joao Cancelo in one touch before this time beating Ederson.
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Virgil van Dijk's brilliant clearing header denied Haaland an equalizer off Cancelo's cross soon after as the game rose to a crescendo. Klopp saw red after his indignant response to a perceived foul by Bernardo Silva on Salah before Darwin Nunez wasted a three-on-one chance after doing excellent work to close down Cancelo's pass. When he did make the right call to square the ball, his fellow substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold could not quite convert.
City were unable to punish those lapses in judgment and now find themselves four points off Arsenal, whose record as the only side to go unbeaten through a Premier League season will now endure for another 18 months, at the summit of the table. Perhaps more concerning for Pep Guardiola and company will be the fact that their great rivals have cut the gap to 10 points. This version of Liverpool could put together the sort of winning run that bridges that before May.
The whispers and doubts had just been creeping up before this week. Was Salah suffering more than a wobble? Was there real cause for concern in his relatively meager scoring return now that he is in his 30s? For now, those concerns have been dispelled. It was not merely the goal, magnificently taken though it was, that put you in mind of the Egyptian at his regal best. It was the menace that coursed through his every action.
Drifting towards the center forward position that seems a more natural fit for him in Klopp's 4-4-2 than the right-wing berth he had occupied against Arsenal last week, Salah found himself at the heart of the action, in the sort of position where he could pray on the nerves of the City defense. Whether the pressure of having one of the league's most deadly forward in his rearview mirror forced Dias to slip only the man himself will know but it was in keeping with how defenders tend to react when Salah is in the mood.
Liverpool fans might have been disappointed to see him spurn that chance and others that came his way but the key thing was he was getting in position to miss them. Give him enough and the goal would inevitably come, a moment of balletic elegance as he punished Cancelo for getting too close to him. But then you could hardly blame the City full-back for not wanting to give his man the space to run at him. Salah is in the mood and it is forcing defenders into mistakes. Things are back to the way they were.
Klopp might have been the manager given his marching orders but his counterpart in the Manchester City dugout felt no less aggrieved after his side were denied a goal moments after Salah's big miss.
"The referee said play on, play on, play on, there were a thousand million fouls like this and this one is because we scored a goal," said Guardiola after the game. "So they disallowed [it] because we scored a goal, otherwise it would not have been disallowed."
You can see why the City boss is aggrieved even if it is probably the case that Haaland had grabbed a little too much of Fabinho's shirt. The initial assumption when Taylor, largely excellent in this game, headed to the monitor is that the poking of the ball away from Alisson would be under his radar. Instead, the focus turned to what was not the sort of decision that one would usually suggest ought to be within VAR's purview.
If there is fault there it does not lie with Taylor, who let the game flow and in doing so heightened the drama of this superb contest. Instead, questions could be asked of Simon Bennett at Stockley Park. Did he need to instruct the man on the ground to take another look? Was this really a clear and obvious error in the build-up to the goal?
If anyone was toasting events at Anfield as warmly as Liverpool supporters it might have been Mikel Arteta, whose Arsenal side find themselves four points clear at the top of the table after beating Leeds 1-0. The only faint cloud on the horizon might be a victory that boosts Klopp's chance of a top-four (or even top-two finish) but the Gunners will take that if it allows them to sit at the Premier League summit a while longer. Arsenal are still emphatic underdogs to Manchester City with 10 games gone in the season but the longer they hold first place the greater belief will build in north London.
To make matters even better, the great moment in Arsenal history remains unmatched in the modern era. Liverpool's win means that the 2003-04 side are still the only team to go undefeated in a 38-game English top-flight season. If the hyper team from the Etihad can't match the Invincibles who can?
The hosts look the most likely to score as we head into added time, this time Nunez plays the pass in a prime position but a diving Alexander-Arnold can't quite turn it in. There are only two minutes left for City to get an equaliser.
It's all kicking off here. The Liverpool manager is indignant over what he believes was a foul on Salah by Bernardo Silva and Taylor stops the game to go over and give Klopp his marching order. VAR takes a look at this but Silva avoids any further punishment.
Then Liverpool find themselves three on one after Nunez blocks Cancelo's pass. Salah is in acres of space but the Uruguayan only has eyes for goal, wasting a really great chance to win the game.
Unsurprisingly the Liverpool goal is under siege right now and for a second you can feel a goal coming when Cancelo crashes a delivery along the six yard line. Haaland is waiting but out of nowhere Van Dijk is on the scene to flick the ball out for a corner. That seemed a certain equaliser.
He's been testing City all game long and there is the goal he has deserved. A brilliant ball over the top from Alisson, Salah beats Cancelo and finds the net at last.
The Egyptian looks like he's back to his best, playing with a verve and aggression that has been missing on occasion this season. Flying in from the right he bends one just wide of Ederson's far post. He's going close.
What an advert this is for Brazilian goalkeepers. Haaland might have hit it harder when Gundogan teed him up just inside the penalty area but Alisson still showed impressively sprightly movement to get down quickly and get his right hand down to save.
Now we're cooking. Elliott fires Liverpool through in behind, Ederson and company scramble to Firmino to deny him and the ball breaks to Salah on the right. Across the field Jota is unmarked, picked out perfectly by the Egyptian only to head over the bar.
Not, it transpires, for anything that happened between Haaland and Alisson but for a tug of the shirt by the Norwegian on Fabinho in the build up.
This might get disallowed but for now City lead seconds after Salah's miss. De Bruyne slips one in behind but it looks like Alisson has beaten Haaland to the ball. The Norwegian gets a boot on the ball and doesn't really connect with anything else, squirming it clear. Foden thumps it goalwards, Gomez can't keep it off the line and City celebrate. But Anthony Taylor is heading to the VAR screen.
If you needed a moment to sum up Salah's difficulties this season then there it is. Salah spins on the edge of the City half, Dias slips and he is away. Ake sprints back but can't cover the ground quickly enough as Liverpool's No.11 opens up his body to roll the ball... wide! He is convinced Ederson got a glove on the ball and he is proven correct. Of course one might argue that in top form the Brazilian couldn't have got close to making the world class parry he just did.
Plenty of early possession in the Liverpool half for City but the visitors are still searching for a breakthrough.
We're used to this games starting at 100 miles an hour and never slowing down from then on, this has been a little more considered though not short on intrigue. Early on Liverpool seemed prepared to play on the counter but as the half wore on their confidence and authority grew though they were still threatened by the De Bruyne-Haaland tandem. With 45 minutes to go this game could go either way.
De Bruyne advances through midfield and you can feel it coming. Perhaps it takes too long as the further the Belgian advances the wider Haaland goes. When the pass comes it is naturally a pinpoint one, lofted right over Gomez, but from the left corner of the six yard box there's nothing the No.9 can do but flick straight at Alisson.
That's how quickly things can change when you have the big Norwegian in your team. Out of nowhere he seems to burst in behind the Liverpool byline, advancing on goal from the left side. Alisson comes out and does well to ready himself for the chip, palming it to safety.
It is getting better for the hosts, Van Dijk firing Liverpool upfield. The impressive Milner puts a smart cross into an area where Ederson has to put a glove on it, tipping it into the path of Robertson on the edge of the box, from where he drives powerfully over the bar. The pressure is on the City goal right now but with one pass De Bruyne unleashes Foden down the left and Guardiola's men get back into their possession game.
For the first time today, Salah and Liverpool really get on the front foot. The No.11 picks it up just inside his own half and goes at Ake, who almost bounces off him. City swarm back in just about enough numbers to force a corner, from which the hosts retain possession. Elliott ultimately lofts a cross in that Jota rises to meet, heading straight down Ederson's throat. Better from Liverpool.
This all looks so easy for City so far. Change the shirts or show us the stats without the badges and you'd have no idea that their opposition have been their nearest rival over the last five or so years. All you can really say in Liverpool's defense so far is that they're just about keeping City from having many shots, though Gundogan's volley from outside the box bounces awkwardly in front of Alisson. He does well to hold on.
Disappointing news for City (and perhaps Liverpool) as Arsenal hold out for three points at Leeds that will briefly extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points. At Anfield, City are weaving their way around Liverpool with relative ease, their first touches so elegant and accurate that there's nothing for the hosts to trigger their press.
Away we go at Anfield! It looks like Joao Cancelo is starting at right back with Ake on the left flank for City.
Recent form would suggest the Liverpool team taking the field right now -- outside the top 10 with two league wins to their name -- should be no match for City but Guardiola knows otherwise.
"It's Liverpool - it doesn't matter the position in the table in these kind of games," he told Sky Sports ahead of kick off. "The players know it, we've faced Liverpool many many times in the last few years, we know the value of their team - and we've been talking about us, and what we have to do.
"We have to be aggressive and impose our own style. Whoever does that will be close to winning."
Trouble is brewing at Villa Park after Chelsea took hold of a top four spot, Mason Mount scoring twice in a hard-fought victory. The chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" aimed Steven Gerrard's way rather said it all. Villa are just a point above the relegation zone with two wins from 10 games.
Manchester United, meanwhile, lost ground in the top four race after being held goalless against Newcastle whilst West Ham and Southampton shared the points at St. Mary's.
Leeds' game against Arsenal was also due to finish around now but was delayed by 40 minutes due to an issue with the referee comms system at Elland Road. Patrick Bamford has just missed a penalty that would have drawn the hosts level after Bukayo Saka's first half opener. There's 25 minutes plus added time to go.
If you were picking a spot on the pitch where this game could be lost for Liverpool it would almost certainly be down the right flank, where James Milner is going to be in for quite the examination from Phil Foden. The 36 year old has -- understandably and unsurprisingly -- looked like he lacks the legs to really make a mark on top flight games of late. You almost wonder if he might just sit deep and function in a largely defensive role.
Meanwhile Alexander-Arnold's presence on the bench makes you wonder if Klopp might be inclined, at some stage, to give his England international a run out.
Liverpool XI: Alisson; Milner, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Salah, Fabinho, Thiago, Elliott; Firmino, Jota
Subs: Kelleher, Henderson, Jones, Tsimikas, Nunez, Carvalho, Bajcetic, Phillips, Alexander-Arnold
Man City XI: Ederson; Akanji, Dias, Ake, Cancelo; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Silva, Haaland, Foden
Subs: Ortega, Grealish, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Palmer, Lewis, Wilson-Esbrand
John Stones is still sidelined for City but with Manuel Akanji fitting the team like a glove, he won't be missed too much during the match, writes Chuck Booth. Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are also out with long term injuries but Pep Guardiola's biggest decision will be how he wants to setup the attack after resting Haaland and Foden during Champions League play against Copenhagen.
Just when things were looking up for the Reds, Ibrahima Konate faces a late fitness test for the match, writes Chuck Booth. With Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold ruled out, this gives Jurgen Klopp quite a decision at center back. If Konate can't go, Joe Gomez has been at right back but could need to shift inside with James Milner starting on the flank. Calvin Ramsay has returned to training as well but this could be too large of a match for him to make his Liverpool debut in.
Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and Arthur Melo will all miss the match, so Liverpool's midfield is also thin but the big blow will be the loss of Luis Diaz. The Colombian winger has been ever present for the Reds but without him, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Nunez will need to be on their game to test the City defense.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the big Premier League game of the weekend, Manchester City's trip to Liverpool. The Reds need a win more than ever with just 10 points to their name after eight top flight games. But will their bruised defense be able to hold Erling Haaland at bay? We're about to find out.
