Pep Guardiola has labelled Manchester City's performance in the 4-1 Premier League victory over Liverpool as "one of the best" in his seven years as manager at the club.
The Citizens entered Saturday's lunchtime kickoff at the Etihad Stadium without the presence of top scorer Erling Braut Haaland, who failed to recover in time from a groin injury that he picked up before the international break.
However, City had no problems excelling in the final third as Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish all found the net in a deserved victory for Guardiola's side after Mohamed Salah had opened the scoring for the visitors.
The reigning Premier League champions have now moved to within five points of table-toppers Arsenal, who will look to increase their lead at the summit to eight points with a win over Leeds United later this afternoon.
City's victory over Liverpool is Guardiola's 100th on home soil in the Premier League after 128 games, and the Spaniard has become the fastest manager since Arsene Wenger (139 games) to reach a century of home wins in the division.
© Reuters
Guardiola heaped praise on his City players after the match, telling BT Sport: "From minute one to minute 93 it was a perfect performance – even though we concede a goal we played really well.
"They (Liverpool) always have a threat on transition but we played really good. One of the best performances in my seven years.
"The players knew we weren't playing bad. One goal down and we continued to do it and had just a bit of chat at half time and were lucky to score the second goal. But then at 2-1 the game was stable."
Asked for his thoughts on the performance of man-of-the-match Grealish, Guardiola added: "I think this season is the Jack we thought could help us.
"He saved us from conceding a second goal, the chance for Mo Salah and Jack helped us. Riyad [Mahrez] was exceptional too, I cannot name one player better than another they were all exceptional."
As well as his goal, Grealish set up Alvarez for City's equaliser just before the half-hour mark, and the England international has now assisted eight Premier League goals since the World Cup break – only Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes (also eight) has assisted as many in the same period.
© Reuters
Grealish, who admitted that he was feeling unwell before kickoff, expressed his delight after helping the Citizens secure a "perfect" victory on home soil.
"Brilliant. We knew it would be a tough game playing against Liverpool," Grealish told BT Sport. "The first game after the break is always difficult. We wanted to start this last period of the season right. I thought we started the game well, and Liverpool are so dangerous with the players they have up front.
"So we went one goal down, then you fear the worst and think it'll be a tough game to get back into. But I thought we responded brilliantly. I thought we were excellent, especially in the second half.
"We had a chat with ourselves at half time and the manager and he said we have to stay in the game. I thought we were good in the first half apart from the goal.
Grealish added: "I was in the toilet and I felt sick all morning. I was buzzing in the end – I feel alright now!
"I love it, man. I love football, I love playing, I love training. When it's going well like this there's nothing better. I feel back to my normal self, I'm playing with confidence, I feel fit. Scoring today and getting the assist is perfect."
Man City, who have now won four successive Premier League games for the first time this season, will travel to basement club Southampton in their next top-flight match next weekend.
Oliver Thomas
