Jeremy Doku starred as Manchester City closed the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal with a statement 3-0 win over defending champions Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday opened the door for the teams who have split the last eight titles between them, and in Pep Guardiola's 1,000th game in management, City turned in their best performance of the season.
Erling Haaland had an early penalty saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili, but his header opened the scoring in the 29th minute, before Virgil van Dijk saw a potential equaliser disallowed for offside.
Nico Gonzalez's deflected effort doubled City's lead just before half-time, and the impressive Doku - in his 100th appearance for the club - scored a stunning third in the 63rd minute.
While City move back to second, Liverpool end the weekend down in eighth, having lost five of their 11 games this campaign.
How the match unfolded
City had a huge chance in the 13th minute, as Doku skipped past Mamardashvili and saw his left foot clipped by the Liverpool goalkeeper's knee. A penalty was awarded after a VAR review, but Mamardashvili pushed Haaland's spot-kick away.
Mamardashvili was then worked at his near post by Doku, but City's pressure paid off when a flowing move culminated in Haaland heading Matheus Nunes' cross home.
Liverpool thought they were level when Van Dijk nodded in from Mohamed Salah's corner, but the flag was raised against Andy Robertson – who ducked away from the ball in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
And Van Dijk was involved at the other end three minutes into first-half stoppage time, inadvertently deflecting Nico's long-range strike past Mamardashvili.
Liverpool's best chance saw substitute Cody Gakpo turn Conor Bradley's cross over, but Doku killed off the contest with a spectacular curler into the top-right corner.
Dominik Szoboszlai tested Donnarumma from distance and Salah prodded wide when clean through as Liverpool failed to find a consolation goal.
Pep celebrates landmark with statement win
Guardiola can count some remarkable performances among his 1,000 games in management, from UEFA Champions League triumphs and trebles with Barcelona and City to a dominant spell in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.
But Sunday's win, which came against the reigning champions with the pressure firmly on at the top of the table, might be right up there.
City started at a relentless pace, and their intensity did not drop after the saved penalty. Rayan Cherki drew a big block from Van Dijk, while Phil Foden dropped into a deep-lying midfield role to dictate proceedings.
There was a hint of fortune about the way Ibrahima Konate lost the flight of the ball for Haaland's opener, but the move that led to the goal was vintage Guardiola, starting with some slick passing from Nico O'Reilly and Foden near their own corner flag.
But for all City's pretty build-up play, it was the direct running of Doku that got the home fans out of their seats. Liverpool had threatened to make things nervy before his pinpoint strike, which came after he bamboozled Konate with a quick touch out of his feet.
City – who are now four points behind Arsenal – have now won four straight games in all competitions, with a trip to out-of-form Newcastle United to come after the international break.
Slot left seeing red as Liverpool stutter again
After halting their four-game losing streak in the Premier League with last week's victory over Aston Villa, and then outclassing Real Madrid in the Champions League, Liverpool would have bounded into this game with plenty of confidence.
But that did not appear to be the case. Liverpool were penned back deep inside their own half from the first whistle, with the electric running of Doku giving Bradley a particularly tough time.
Liverpool doubled up on Doku to no avail when he drew the foul for Haaland's missed penalty, while another driving run led to the Belgian testing Mamardashvili.
And in the build-up to Nico's goal, they were slow to react to City taking a short corner, with Van Dijk throwing out a leg at the shot to wrong-foot his own goalkeeper.
Arne Slot was frustrated with the decision to disallow Van Dijk's header, but in truth, his team failed to apply any sustained pressure until they were 2-0 down and could have few complaints about the result.
Hugo Ekitike was isolated and did not attempt a shot before his 56th-minute withdrawal, and Slot did not risk Alexander Isak from the bench.
The Reds host Nottingham Forest in their first game after the international break, with their title defence under serious threat.
Club reports
Man City report | Liverpool report
What the managers said
Pep Guardiola: “The whole back four, Bernie, Nico were outstanding. Thank you to the players and staff for the incredible present in this game to win against the most important rival we have faced in this 10 years here.
“It has been nice to play against them - Virgil, Robertson, Salah - we have done a 1,000 battles. I think Pep Lijnders, my assistant, represents a bit of Jurgen in a small way. It has been a special night with my kids here, so it was good.”
Arne Slot: "They were, in every aspect of football, better [than us in] the first half. I would say like last season; I saw a lot of similarities between last season and this season with one main difference in that after we struggled in the first 25 minutes a lot we scored a set-piece. That changed the game. They kept on outplaying us for 90 minutes but it did help us to get some energy to keep defending well."
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Key facts
Doku is the first player with 10+ dribbles, 10+ duels won, 3+ chances created, 3+ shots on target and a goal in a Premier League game since Eden Hazard for Chelsea vs West Ham in April 2019
City manager Guardiola took charge of his 1,000th game on Sunday, with his side’s 3-0 win against Liverpool being the 716th victory of his coaching career (388th with Man City).
This was the first time since July 2020 that Salah has started a Premier League match against Man City and failed to either score or assist, ending a run of nine straight league starts against them in which he had been directly involved in a goal for Liverpool (seven goals, five assists).
Liverpool have lost five of their 11 matches in the Premier League this season (W6), the most defeats by a reigning champion at this stage of a campaign since Leicester in 2016/17 (five). Only Chelsea in 2015/16 (six) have lost more after 11 games of a Premier League season as reigning champions.