Liverpool produced arguably their performance of the season so far to beat Manchester City 2-1 at Anfield, courtesy of two stunning goals from Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho.
Edin Dzeko had levelled for the visitors in the first half, before Coutinho produced his second magnificent strike of the week with 15 minutes remaining.
Brendan Rodgers side now sit fifth in the Premier League, just one point behind fourth placed Arsenal prior to their game at home to Everton.
Many had predicted the Reds would struggle given their trip to Istanbul on Thursday which ended with a penalty shootout defeat to Besiktas.
But Liverpool looked the brighter of the two sides all afternoon, and took the lead inside just 11 minutes in spectacular style.
Coutinho dispossessed Vincent Kompany and found Raheem Sterling with a pass. Sterling then fed Jordan Henderson, who cut back inside and powered a superb strike into the top corner via the underside of the crossbar.
It was Henderson’s fourth goal of the season, whilst the vice-captain also has 10 assists to his name in all competitions.
The goal seemed to wake City up somewhat, and they were almost level just moments later when Sergio Aguero struck the inside of the post having been sent clear by David Silva.
That served as a warning for the Reds, and on 25 minutes Manuel Pellegrini’s side drew level, courtesy of a fine team goal.
Silva fed Aguero, and the Argentine took three Liverpool defenders out of the game with a superb reverse ball, allowing Dzeko to bury a decent finish past Mignolet in front of the Kop.
Adam Lallana had already seen an early goal disallowed for offside when shooting from the most narrow of angles, and the Reds number 20 spurned their best chance to retake the lead, firing wide from an angle after a clever chipped pass from Lazar Markovic.
If the first half had appeared even in terms of chances, the second half was all Liverpool.
Raheem Sterling failed to connect properly with a Lallana cross, whilst Coutinho continued to cause havoc with his clever passes and dribbling skills.
Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson were particularly impressive in the heart of a dominant Liverpool midfield, but the game belonged to Coutinho once more.
The Brazilian collected the ball from Sterling on 75 minutes, cut inside and curled a wonderful strike into the far corner beyond the dive of Joe Hart.
Substitute Daniel Sturridge could have made it 3-1, but missed the target having been sent clear after Jordan Henderson had caught Yaya Toure in possession.
David Silva and Sergio Aguero both failed to hit the target from the edge of the box in the closing minutes as the Reds saw out the game fairly comfortably.
The result meant Liverpool have now recorded consecutive Premier League victories over Tottenham, Southampton and Manchester City, and remain unbeaten in 2015.
The race for the top four is well and truly on.
