LIVERPOOL: Liverpool overawed Manchester City in a 2-0 win on Sunday with goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah to take a commanding nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League and extend their arch-rivals' slump to seven games without a win.
The result was City's first four-game losing streak in the Premier League since 2008 and pushed Pep Guardiola's struggling side down to an unfamiliar fifth in the table, 11 points behind their greatest rivals of recent years.
Buoyed by a midweek Champions League win over Real Madrid, Liverpool came out flying and could have wrapped the game up by halftime with a hatful of chances including two thundering Virgil van Dijk headers, one of which hit the woodwork.
The first goal came in the 12th minute after a sumptuous long pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold to Salah on the right wing. His low ball eluded Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega for Gakpo to nudge in at the back post.
Salah scored Liverpool's second with a 78th-minute penalty, after fellow striker Luis Diaz was brought down by Ortega in the box, sending the Anfield crowd into delirium.
"It's very special and I don't take it for granted. It's always special to score at Anfield and win games," said Salah, acknowledging, however, that it could be his last game at home to City amid speculation over his contract renewal.
The result was manager Arne Slot's 18th win in 20 games in a wonderful start at Liverpool where he has managed to add defensive steel and midfield control to the furious attacking style of predecessor Juergen Klopp.
Slot's team are top of the Champions League after a flawless start in Europe and have now taken an intimidating lead in the Premier League on 34 points after 13 games, nine points above both Arsenal and Chelsea.
Pressing relentlessly from the off on Sunday, Liverpool had 18 shots including seven on target throughout the game, compared to City's eight with only two on target.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander-Arnold, Gakpo and Salah all peppered Ortega's goal, as City looked shellshocked in the first half, even struggling to pass the ball out of defence where they have been masterful in recent years.
Rico Lewis' stab wide was City's closest chance, with Erling Haaland barely having a sniff.
Slot said he wished his team had scored a second goal earlier to put the game to bed, but acknowledged the magnitude of their achievement against the reigning league champions.
"We came close to perfection. That's the only way to beat City," he said.
It was the first time in Guardiola's illustrious coaching career that he has lost four successive league games.
Liverpool fans delighted in taunting him with the chant: "You're getting sacked in the morning," which the Spaniard took in good spirit, raising six fingers for the number of Premier League titles he has won.
"I didn't expect them to chant that, maybe I deserve to be sacked," a good-humoured Guardiola told reporters, congratulating Liverpool on a deserved victory.
"I didn't expect that, but it's fine. When you win, you laugh. When you lose, they laugh, and you have to accept it... We accept the reality what it is, we go forward and (face) Nottingham Forest … I have to find a solution."
Liverpool captain Van Dijk, who comfortably shackled Haaland throughout the game, said it was far too early to talk about winning the Premier League.
"We focus on the next game, that's all we can do. There's no point at this stage of the season in getting ahead of ourselves," he said.
"I think City is a fantastic team, four-times champions in a row, and they have quality to punish any team. I think defensively today we did really well, offensively too. We could have scored more, overall it's been a great day."
Whether Salah stays or not at Anfield, his name is now written in Liverpool lore. His double contribution on Sunday meant he has scored and assisted in 36 Premier League games - joint-highest in the competition's history with Wayne Rooney. - REUTERS