Manchester City put on a gritty and stylish performance to put an end to Liverpool’s unbeaten league run.

Liverpool suffered their first premier league defeat of the season at the hands of Champions and fellow title contender Manchester City at the Ethihad stadium to open their account for the year. The game was thrown in balance after Roberto Firmino headed into an empty net to cancel out Aguero’s brilliant opening goal.

City would however have the final say in an action-soaked encounter, Leroy Sane showed composure to beat Allison at the far post in the closing stages to decide the keenly contested fixture in City’s favour.

City had to dig in to repel a late Liverpool onslaught. Guardiola’s charges got the job done with a much need 3 points in the bag reducing Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table to just 4 points. With a host of matches still to play, the title race has been thrown open after this round of fixtures.

While Liverpool remains top of the table and the latest setback not a reason to panic, it will be under greater pressure from the chasing pack especially Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

As the second half of the league season gets fully underway, there promises to be more twists and turns in the race for the title.