Arne Slot believes his Liverpool team "came close to perfection" during their 2-0 win over Manchester City to go nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Liverpool piled more misery on Pep Guardiola's side, with goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah compounding the Citizens to a sixth defeat in seven matches.
And the Reds were worthy of their win. They accumulated an expected goals (xG) tally of 3.35 from their 18 shots compared to City's measly 0.82 from their eight efforts.
Liverpool's lead at the summit is their biggest margin as leaders in the competition since the final day of the 2019-20 campaign when they won their last title (18 points).
Though Slot did not want to get carried away with his latest victory, he lauded his side for their display at Anfield.
"Yeah [it was almost a perfect match], and if you look at the work-rate, I think it was perfect. The amount of chances we missed made it tight at the end," Slot said.
"But maybe that's nice for matches like this. It should be like this. But it would have been nicer to score the second goal earlier.
"We always press high, but they're so good at build-up. So you have to work very hard. Our players had energy. Apart from our players, the crowd was fantastic today.
"We're a compatible team, and it's difficult to beat us. But also we have to put the effort in. But we have injuries. We had to take Trent [Alexander-Arnold] off. It would have been a risk.
"These are the challenges we face at the moment, but every team has to face these challenges over a season. Next week is a big week against Newcastle and Everton.
"Ideally, I would have loved to have seen the second half being the same as the first half. But the quality of the other team.
"If you want to win against City you have to be perfect in every part of the game. High press, low press, build-up. They bring so many problems to you.
"We came close to perfection. We weren't perfect, but we came close to perfection. That's the only way to beat a quality team like City.
"I don't think anyone, including me, would have predicted this [start]. I knew Jurgen [Klopp] left the team in a very good place.
"But still, to win so much with all the difficult teams we have played already is not something you could predict at the start of the season.
"But, like I say, I saw Arsenal yesterday and Chelsea today and I saw City. They will come back because these teams have so much quality.
"They could go on the same run as us. So we have to stay sharp and focused."
However, Slot also highlighted his side's missed chances, with Liverpool perhaps unfortunate not to end the encounter with a more handsome scoreline.
Salah perhaps squandered the best of those opportunities, firing over after intercepting a pass from Bernardo Silva with only Stefan Ortega to beat.
"That's true. Although I watched this game every time when I was not working here, maybe this game deserved the way it went because it was special until the end," he added.
"But if you only look at it from a Liverpool perspective, it would not have been strange if we were two goals up at half-time or any other point of the game.
"City were dominating possession but still the chances were for us.
"You have 90 minutes of concern when you play City because they can cause you troubles or problems in every single second of the game.
"Even if you are 2-0 up you think like this. I saw a game with my former club doing something special.
"But no, you never feel comfortable when you play City because of the quality of their players and their manager."
Carragher declares Man City's title bid over after Liverpool defeat
Jamie Carragher declared Manchester City's Premier League title defence as finished following their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
City were left 11 points behind leaders Liverpool after Pep Guariola's side fell to a fourth consecutive top-flight loss, an unwanted feat they have not suffered since 2008.
Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah were on target at Anfield, earning Arne Slot an 18th win from his first 20 games in charge of the Reds in all competitions.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher insisted that there is no way back for Guardiola's defending champions in their quest to retain the crown for a fifth consecutive season.
"This season, Manchester City will not be winning the Premier League," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "I don't think there is any way back.
"It is almost a mini-crisis for Manchester City, and I think it's reminiscent of Liverpool two years ago. I actually think Man City might have a fight on their hands for the top four.
"I look at Arsenal and Chelsea and the way they're looking right now, I think it may be difficult for Man City to finish above them if they don't go into the market in January."
Guardiola was seen holding six fingers up to the home crowd, referencing each top-flight title he has won, after 'you're getting sacked in the morning' chants echoed around Anfield.
Carragher backed the former Barcelona boss for his decision to do so, saying: "He's putting the six fingers up and rightly so.
"I think he is just hitting home, 'Don't take for granted what we've done'. Maybe just sending a message to the hierarchy above him, to his own supporters there."
City's defeat dropped them to fifth in the table following Chelsea's win over Aston Villa on Sunday and Arsenal's triumph over West Ham 24 hours earlier.
With Guardiola's side continuing to stumble, Carragher believes that Chelsea and the Gunners will be Liverpool's main title challengers until the end of the season.
"He [Guardiola] needs to buy players. If he can do that in January who knows, but he may need to wait until the end of the season to fix it," Carragher added.
"I look at the energy Arsenal have got and the energy the young players at Chelsea have got, and I think it might be difficult for City to finish above them."
City take on Nottingham Forest at home on Wednesday, hoping to get their season back on track against a side they have not lost to since an FA Cup defeat in January 2009.
Lecce 1-1 Juventus: Last-gasp Rebic leveller thwarts Bianconeri
Juventus were once again frustrated in Serie A after Ante Rebic's last-gasp leveller saw them held to a 1-1 draw by Lecce.
Nikola Krstovic's dazzling run and spectacular cross paved the way for substitute Rebic to equalise in the third minute of stoppage time on Sunday.
Andrea Cambiaso had opened the scoring in the 68th minute as his tame shot fortuitously deflected off Kialonda Gaspar and past helpless goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.
Thiago Motta's side should have been ahead earlier in the first half, with Khephren Thuram missing a gilt-edged chance just seven minutes into the clash after fine work from Kenan Yildiz.
Timothy Weah also saw a goal disallowed for offside after converting on the rebound when Falcone parried Teun Koopmeiners' long-range effort.
An eighth draw in just 14 league games this season left Juve sixth in the table and six points adrift of leaders Napoli, while Lecce sit 16th, two points clear of the relegation zone.
Data Debrief: Familiar face haunts Juve
Juve are one of only three remaining unbeaten teams in the Europe's top five leagues this season, along with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, but the manner of this draw will frustrate Motta.
Sunday marked an 18th draw for Juve in top-flight action in 2024, their most in club history across a single calendar year, surpassing the 17 way back in 1956.
It was a familiar face that thwarted Juve, too, with Rebic involved in his fifth Serie A goal against the Bianconeri (four goals, one assist), his joint-most versus one opponent in the competition (Torino, also five).
Greenwood's late penalty fires Marseille past Monaco and into second
Mason Greenwood's late penalty propelled Marseille past Monaco with a 2-1 victory in Sunday's eye-catching Ligue 1 clash.
Greenwood converted from 12 yards with just a minute of normal time remaining, moving Marseille up to second in the table and ahead of Monaco on goal difference.
The spot-kick was awarded for a handball from full-back Christian Mawissa as Marseille ended a three-game winless run against Monaco in the league.
Valentin Rongier's poor pass in the first half had earlier allowed Aleksandr Golovin to counter-attack and open the scoring with just his second Ligue 1 goal of the campaign.
Luis Henrique subsequently levelled before the hour, capitalising on some fine work from Neal Maupay, before Greenwood snatched victory for Roberto De Zerbi's side.
At the other end of the table, bottom side Montpellier salvaged a 2-2 draw with fourth-placed Lille thanks to Arnaud Nordin's last-gasp leveller in an ill-tempered clash.
Jonathan David had earlier scored a penalty in either half for the visitors, with Issiaga Sylla on target for Montpellier on the stroke of half-time to level after the Lille forward's first spot-kick.
Montpellier head coach Jean-Louis Gasset was sent off late on before Tanguy Coulibaly and Mitchel Bakker were both dismissed in a chaotic ending.
Coulibaly prompted the altercation by kicking the ball against Lille head coach Bruno Genesio, with Bakker and the Montpellier man taking the punishment for the clash that subsequently followed.
Far less drama ensued in Lyon's routine 4-1 victory over Nice as Alexandre Lacazette's hat-trick helped his side move into fifth place.
Sofiane Diop managed an equaliser for sixth-placed Nice after Lacazette's opener, only for the Lyon striker to put the visitors to the sword along with a goal from midfielder Jordan Veretout.
Sunday marked the seventh time Lacazette has scored three or more goals in a Ligue 1 game, more than any other Lyon player in the competition's history.
He also scored his 149th, 150th and 151st Ligue 1 goals. In the 21st century, only Kylian Mbappe (191) and Wissam Ben Yedder (161) have scored more in the top-flight.
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