The peculiarity of this match was that it had not been dubbed a ‘title decider’ as many recent league meetings have been in recent years.
Regardless, the Anfield crowd rose to the occasion, showing the vibrant spirit that has inspired the Reds to remain unbeaten in the last 13 visits of the reigning league champions.
And so an electric first half played out with opportunities at either end, the best being headers from Diogo Jota and Erling Haaland, which both fell into the grateful grasp of Ederson and Alisson respectively.
Still, neither defence had been breached before the break, with the 0-0 halftime scoreline very atypical of recent Liverpool fixtures, which had seen goals in both halves in 14 of the last 16.
It didn’t take long for the ball to be put into the back of the net upon the restart, with Phil Foden wheeling off in celebration in front of the travelling fans after tapping a rebound in from Haaland’s original effort.
However a foul on Fabinho in the build-up by the Norwegian was spotted by Anthony Taylor on a trip to his VAR monitor, and the goal was disallowed, further stoking the fire inside the ground as both sides ached for the breakthrough.
As the half dragged on, the visitors’ dominance grew, and Alisson once again denied Haaland from inside the penalty area.
As a result of the away side’s unusual weakness in front of goal, it presented a perfect opportunity for the Reds to hit them on the counter, and Mohamed Salah did just that with 14 minutes remaining. Latching onto a goal kick and spinning past Joao Cancelo, the Egyptian beat Ederson one-on-one in front of the Kop, taking his tally to nine goals against the Cityzens.
As attention turned to holding onto their narrow lead, the match reached fever pitch and saw Jurgen Klopp receive a red card for his impassioned protestations over a potential foul on Salah by Bernardo Silva.
In the end, this had little impact as the hosts claimed a precious three points in the quest to get their season back on track, whilst leaving Manchester City four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
