The title race isn't over - but Man City's hopes are! Winners and losers as Pep Guardiola fails to find the answers while Mohamed Salah & Liverpool stretch their Premier League lead

All eyes were on the Egyptian King after his pointed declarations about a lack of a contract offer from Liverpool, and he carried on what he has been doing all season and indeed throughout his career with the Reds: rising to the occasion. Salah's goal record is rightly fawned over, but he is equally impressive at creating chances for his team-mates, and his assist for Gakpo was a work of art.

The forward terrorised Manuel Akanji after latching on to Trent Alexander-Arnold's diagonal ball and delivered a truly stunning pass for his fellow forward which foxed the City defence and Stefan Ortega. Everyone seemed to think he was shooting and his effort was going wide, but Gakpo knew exactly what his team-mate was concocting and popped up to tap Liverpool in front.

It was Salah's 11th assist in all competitions of the season and his penalty, unerringly dispatched, took him on to 23 goal contributions just four months into the campaign. He is the second-top assist provider in the league - behind Bukayo Saka - and the second-leading scorer behind Erling Haaland. He is the most in-form player in the league and in arguably the best form of his career, a staggering achievement at the age of 32 and testament to the incredible work he does to stay in shape.

After the game, Salah kept up the narrative that this is going to be his last season with Liverpool, and it would be a crying shame if that is the case. It would not just be Liverpool's loss if he leaves; the Premier League would be losing not just an all-time great, but its best current player.

With each game in this miserable season, a chunk gets torn off Walker's standing as one of the Premier League's finest defenders. And at Anfield, his reputation was dealt two hammer blows. Unlike last week when Timo Werner destroyed him in a footrace, this was not a game where Walker's physical decline was on display. Instead, his performance demonstrated a worrying lack of concentration.

He was asleep at the wheel when Salah shaped to cross, letting Gakpo nip in behind him to score. It was far from the first recent example of Walker losing focus at a key moment and, coupled with him losing his physical edge, makes him a liability. When Walker did manage to race back and dispossess Luis Diaz later in the first half, there was a genuine feeling of surprise that he had managed to do something good; that is how far he has fallen this season.

Walker's misery was compounded when his intervention led to Liverpool winning the penalty which killed City off once and for all. He tried to help out Ruben Dias when he ran into trouble with Darwin Nunez, but instead he made the situation even worse, scuffing the ball backwards right towards the path of Diaz.

What makes matters worse is that Walker was completely rested against Feyenoord, in theory to keep him fresh for this crunch game. The week of rest did nothing for him and Walker has managed to look more of a spent force than he did after being embarrassed by Tottenham.

The Liverpool boss has hailed Guardiola as his biggest influence, but here Slot schooled the Catalan with a perfect game-plan which was a homage to his predecessor Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool made a lightning start to the game, playing 'heavy metal' football. They didn't just take the game to City, they shoved it down their throats, barely letting them breathe. Liverpool could have been four goals to the good by half-time and the coach would have been entitled to feel frustrated that it took as long as the 78th minute for his side to score again and clinch the win.

The result rounded off an incredible week for Slot after overseeing Liverpool's first win over Real Madri since 2009, and his debut season keeps going from strength to strength. Not only has he won 18 of his opening 20 games, he has achieved some incredible scalps. His side have beaten City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa in the league, while taking care of Madrid, AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

Slot has made such an imposing start that he is making Klopp's record look a little shabby. The German failed to beat Madrid in six attempts, and although he is the coach to have made Guardiola suffer the most, he only won two of his last 12 league meetings with City. He won one of four title races with City, barely competing in the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons. Slot, on the other hand, is on course to dethrone City in his first campaign at Anfield. Sure, Klopp left him with a great team, but Slot has refined Liverpool's style and made them not just better than City, but miles better than them.

These are unprecedented times for Guardiola. The Catalan is well used to setting records, but now he is hitting milestones he never would have wanted to reach. Last week against Tottenham marked the first time he had lost five games in a row, and on Tuesday against Feyenoord he equalled his longest winless run of games as City boss. But things can always get worse. This is now his longest run of games (seven) without victory in his nine seasons at the Etihad Stadium, and this defeat marked the first time in the coach's 17-year career that he has lost four consecutive league games.

Guardiola said before the game that City and him might have to part ways if this miserable run continued, and there is little sign of it abating. The coach is now so used to hearing 'You're getting sacked in the morning' that he has a ready-made response: to hold up six fingers, one for each Premier League title win. Who does that remind you of? Yes, Guardiola is beginning to sound a lot like Jose Mourinho lately, pointing to his past successes in the face of his contemporary struggles.

The Catalan's touchline demeanour does not appear to be helping his players either. When City conceded their first goal against Feyenoord, Guardiola began waving his hands up in the air, pointing the blame at his charges when he should have been looking to encourage them.

Mourinho knows what it is like to be sacked halfway through a season just after winning the Premier League title; Guardiola might end up meeting the same fate if things do not improve.

Erik ten Hag was mocked for his penchant for signing Dutch players for Manchester United, but on this evidence he had the right idea, he just picked the wrong personnel. Liverpool's representatives from the Netherlands did their country proud here both in the dugout and on the pitch.

Virgil van Dijk gave a defensive masterclass, keeping Erling Haaland in his pocket and also proving a handful in the opposition area, coming close to scoring on two occasions in the first half. Gary Neville called the Liverpool captain "a giant" and would have named him Player of the Match if not for a lapse in concentration that gave Kevin De Bruyne a free run at goal. The fact that the Belgian bungled his opportunity to reduce the deficit underlined the fact that this was Liverpool's day.

Van Dijk's compatriots also played their part in this memorable victory. Cody Gakpo got the ball rolling and led the line superbly, proving he can operate as a centre-forward as well as on the wing. Ryan Gravenberch was also in formidable form, bossing City's lightweight midfield.

Haaland is still the Premier League's top scorer, but only just. Salah moved one goal behind him after bagging his penalty and Haaland, who has scored two goals in his last eight league games, had no response at the other end. City's marksman only touched the ball 16 times in 90 minutes and mustered just two attempts on goal.

Unlike against Tottenham, his finishing did not come under scrutiny. More worryingly, City could barely find him, only managing to send long balls his way which Van Dijk knocked away for fun.

This was another hugely disappointing display against a top opponent for Haaland. He has only scored once in four Premier League games against Liverpool and this was the latest sign that that the best teams have worked out how to nullify him. Haaland now faces a real battle with Salah to keep hold of the Premier League Golden Boot, but that is at least one reason for him to stay motivated from now until May, as he has surely lost hope of collecting a third league winners' medal.