Salah delivers the dagger as Arne Slot takes another Scalp

The Egyptian registers a goal and an assist to hand Pep Guardiola another bad day at Anfield

This was the big one. Win against Manchester City, regardless of how lame the reigning champs have looked in recent weeks, and even the most nervous doubters would become believers, as someone once of this parish used to say. When Chris Kavanagh blew his whistle to confirm a second 2-0 victory inside a week, there could be no doubt - Liverpool are the real deal.

A goal in each half from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah restored their nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League, with a performance that defied the current tide of injuries to prove their prowess at both ends of the pitch. A first half of flair and fire gave way to a strange second where Manchester City had all of the ball but Liverpool had all of the chances. The visitors threatened to rise from their recent malaise but once again the home defence bent but did not break, facing just two shots on target on the way to an eleventh clean sheet in twenty matches.

This has always been a curious rivalry - two teams once united in hatred of United, now fighting it out for the big trophies against a backdrop of mutual admiration from the managers, a collection of classic matches of high quality, and occasional incidents where hostility amongst fans spilled over into ugliness. With this in mind, it is not insignificant that both sets of supporters were willing to hold a banner across the divide, imploring their owners to stop exploiting loyalty. Even in the white-hot temperature of a title battle, some things are more important.

This may be a Manchester City side devoid of confidence and composure, but as this heavyweight bout opened, there were no immediate signs of weakness. In the early stages, they approach the game as if they were their old conquering selves - committing half of the team to the press deep in Liverpool’s half. It didn’t take long to show the inherent dangers of this approach. More than once Liverpool regained possession and broke with speed towards the City goal, Luis Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai testing Stefan Ortega’s reflexes more than his shot-stopping ability.

The Hungarian, a reinvigorated threat throughout, appeared determined to banish recent accusations of being shot shy, rifling another fierce effort towards goal that stung the shins of Ortega. From the resulting corner, Virgil Van Dijk struck the post with a header after a recycled Szoboszlai centre. Liverpool’s dominance was evident all over the pitch, winning the ball back with alacrity and creating multiple opportunities to run straight at the heart of their opponents. That dominance was soon reflected on the scoreboard.

A trademark crossfield missile from Trent Alexander-Arnold sent Salah sprinting free down the right-hand side. Manuel Akanji stood guard on the edge of the penalty area, but rather than beat his man, Liverpool’s talisman delivered the perfect ball into the path of the onrushing Gakpo, who didn't have to break stride or even lift his foot to tap home.

Suddenly, there were Manchester CIty inquests all over the pitch. Experienced, serial winners seemingly unable to hold back the red tide. Liverpool’s biggest problem of the opening half hour was their inability to extend that lead - a trend that would continue until Salah's late clincher. Van Dijk headed wide when unmarked at another corner, before Gakpo took the ball from Alexander-Arnold's toe, only to fire over the bar.

City gained a foothold in the half's dying embers, but they couldn’t turn possession into shots. Caoimhin Kelleher was largely untroubled. The same couldn't be said for their opponents. Nathan Ake & Kyle Walker affected last-ditch interventions, while Matheus Nunes and Phil Foden were forced into yellow card offences that stank of frustration.

In comparison, Liverpool were the epitome of calm. With the crowd desperate for their team to pour forward and put their opponents to the sword, they were instead happy to stroke the ball around, asking City to chase shadows, perhaps banking on their opponents running out of steam in the closing stages as they had against Brighton, Spurs and Feyenoord.

Even as City got more of the ball with the half drawing to a close, the feeling was it was possession given rather than taken. Rico Lewis - comfortably the best performer in Sky Blue - screwed their solitary shot wide in the 39th minute, and his manager appeared wrought with concern watching his charges trudge from the field at half time.

Perhaps he found the right inspirational words because the tide began to turn. City kept the ball for five minutes after the break, but Liverpool fashioned the first big chance. Andrew Robertson fed a wonderful through ball into Gakpo’s path. However, the Dutchman knows that he shouldn’t have allowed Ortega to pull off a save. Van Dijk glanced the resultant corner inches over the bar, and piece by piece the nerves increased.

The volume increased simultaneously as Anfield, sensing that their boys needed a boost, reminded everyone that they had conquered all of Europe. It almost worked perfectly as Salah created and then wasted the biggest chance so far to double the lead, showing none of the composure on display against Aston Villa when clean through by lifting the ball over the bar - a miss compounded by the fact that Szoboszlai was available for a tap-in not five yards away.

Suddenly, Liverpool were making a meal of things. Pep Guardiola called for his dribblers from the bench, Jeremy Doku and Savinho giving both full-backs and their head coach something to think about. The answer from Arne Slot was to introduce Jarell Quansah and Darwin Nunez, moments after another Gakpo chance went begging. The Uruguayan’s first meaningful contribution was to rob Ruben Dias and lay a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Luis Diaz. The Colombian committed Ortega who could only send him sprawling to the turf. Penalty.

After his miss against Madrid this time Salah made no mistake, nervelessly drilling the ball into the corner. For the fifth time this season, the Egyptian delivered a goal and an assist, proving once again that this assault on domestic and European honours is impossible without him.

Job done, he was replaced to a standing ovation, putting his feet up as Curtis Jones was tasked with seeing the game out. His captain almost made that a tougher job, dallying on the ball meaning Kevin De Bruyne found himself eyeball to eyeball with Kelleher six yards out. The celebrated playmaker looked a shadow of his former self and appeared as shocked as everyone else inside the ground to find the ball at his feet. The chance was gone as quickly as it arrived, Kelleher smothering his feeble effort.

After the tensions of the second half, the arrival of a two-goal cushion sent Anfield into party mode, serenading their head coach, before warning his opposite number that there may be a P45 heading his way. Guardiola responded with a Mourinho-esque raising of six fingers to denote each league title, something he repeated in front of the away end at full time.

It’s unclear if he was reminding them of what his charges are capable of, or of the good times he’s given them over the last eight years. His long-time nemesis Mourinho is a stark reminder of how quickly you can become yesterday’s man, but even in defeat, he will know that his side has retained some of the fight and quality of old.

Whether it will be enough to overhaul Arne Slot’s rampant Reds - now eleven points up the road - is another matter. For Liverpool, this was another mountain climbed, another week of weeks..another big step towards the ultimate prize.