Leroy Sane struck the winner as Manchester City beat visiting Liverpool 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in a fierce English Premier League contest on Thursday.
The victory helped the defending champions to inflict the first loss of the 2018/2019 season on Juergen Klopp’s side to cut their lead at the top to four points.
Sadio Mane hit the post for Liverpool in the 18th minute and from the resulting scramble, John Stones’s attempted clearance bounced off his goalkeeper Ederson.
The Manchester City defender did superbly to clear off the line with the ball millimetres from going in.
It was Manchester City who broke through five minutes before the break when Bernardo Silva found Sergio Aguero inside the penalty box.
The Argentine unleashed a fierce drive, from the tightest of angles, to fire past Alisson and make it 1-0.
Liverpool responded strongly after the break, though.
They drew level when Andrew Robertson met a deep Trent Alexander-Arnold cross with a cushioned volley for Roberto Firmino to head in from close range.
Manchester City were not finished, though, and restored their lead in the 72nd minute when Raheem Sterling broke from midfield and fed Sane on the left.
The German winger drove home off the inside of the far post.
Aguero went close to a third after Sterling led a swift counter-attack but Alisson was up to the task.
At the other end, Ederson produced a fine save to keep out a Mohammed Salah effort.
Alisson did well again to keep out a close-range blast from Bernardo Silva in the final minute of normal time.(Reuters/NAN)