"Yeah [it was almost a perfect match], and if you look at work-rate I think it was perfect. The amount of chances we miss made it tight at the end. But maybe that's nice for matches like this. It should be like this. But it would have been nicer to score the second goal earlier.

"We always press high but they're so good at build-up. So you have to work very hard. Our players had energy. Apart from our players, the crowd was fantastic today as well.

"They always make it difficult for you in the way they position. It's not only formation. Nine out of 10 times it's the quality of the players. We have some quality players on the pitch too.

"We're a compatible team and it's difficult to beat us. But also we have to put the effort in. But we have injuries. We had to take Trent off. It would have been a risk. These are the challenges we face at the moment but every team has to face these challenges over a season.

"Next week is another big week against Newcastle and Everton.

"Ideally I would have loved to have seen the second half being the same as the first half. But the quality of the other team...

"If you want to win against City you have to be perfect in every part of the game. We came close to perfection, we weren't perfect but we came close to perfection. That's the only way to beat City.

"I don't think anyone, including me would have predicted this [start]. I knew Jurgen [Klopp] left the team in a good place. But still, against all the teams we have played.

"But we're not the only ones. I saw Arsenal yesterday and City, they will come back.

"But, like I say, I saw Arsenal yesterday and Chelsea today and I saw City, they will come back because these teams have so much quality. They could go on the same run as us. So we have to stay sharp and focused."