An in-form Manchester City stunned Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield on Sunday (February 7), as the English Premier League (EPL) leaders float 10 points clear of the struggling defending champions, and five points clear atop the table.

It was the joint-heaviest loss suffered by Liverpool, forced to play to the tune of energised and efficient Citizens, and now languishes in fourth place.

Judging by the lacklustre start, the match was anyone’s to claim but, arguably, Liverpool had the first shot on goal in the 25th minute. Young defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has his cross headed over the bar as Sadio Mané went wide.

The Pep Guardiola-managed Manchester City team came close to breaking the stalemate in the 36th, when Raheem Sterling finally broke through the Liverpool defence after a few attempts at getting past Alexander-Arnold on the left. Sterling’s break was cut shot as Fabinho was there to clip his leg as the Jamaican-born moved into the box. Match referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot.

İlkay Gündoğan was chosen to take the penalty, however, the German midfielder stepped up and put his shot over the crossbar, missing a golden opportunity. The first half ended 0-0.

Man City recalibrated and got off to a flyer just four minutes into the resumption of play. Gündoğan, brushing off his penalty miss, commenced the Citizen demolition after finding himself in the path of a parried shot from Phil Foden.

Liverpool was done but not out and levelled the playing field in the 64th minute when Mohammed Salah converted at the penalty spot.

Gündoğan scored a beautiful brace ten minutes later, who reacting well with Phil Foden, widened the lead to 2-1—worsening Jürgen Klopp’s woes.

Sterling also got on the scorecard in the 78th minute, on hand to net into an empty net after Bernardo Silva left the Liverpool defence in shambles.

Creating opportunities all night, Phil Foden finally got in on the action with a stunning finish in the 83rd minute to best Brazilian custodian Alisson Becker for the fourth time.

It was 17 years ago Manchester City secured all three points against Liverpool in the EPL, a feat last seen 2003. The so-called Anfield curse was a persistent thorn in the Citizens’ side as the title contenders lost 13 of 19 games there in all competitions.

Manager Pep Guardiola, happy with the result, somewhat suggested that the lack of pressure from Liverpool fans made winning more likely.

“What was important was the three points, of course, I’m so proud of the guys who have broken a record that has stood for a long time, that shows how difficult it is and hopefully next time we can do a similar performance with people here,” Guardiola argued.

“Anfield without people is completely different because I could imagine being at 1-1 and how different the influence would be on their players. But we reacted so well, nobody stepped back, everyone stepped forward with a huge personality,” he added.