Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk has suggested that his side wanted the three points more than Manchester City as they took a huge victory from their Premier League meeting at Anfield.
City suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Liverpool thanks to Mo Salah's second-half goal, although they felt aggrieved after Phil Foden's earlier goal was ruled out by VAR following a soft foul in the build-up.
After Salah's goal stood, City struggled to create many chances to get back into the game, although their commitment couldn't be questioned in a feisty game that saw plenty of tackles flying in.
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And Van Dijk suggests that Liverpool edged the contest because of the fight they showed, especially in light of their poor start to the season that saw them 11th going into the fixture.
"It takes a lot [against City], good to get three points, it was always going to be intense," he told Sky Sports.
"It's always happened in the last years, it wasn't different today. In the first half, we played quite well, didn't give much away. Second half we had to defend, and had chances on the break to score more. we won and that's the most important thing. It's a lot of running, communication, it's who wants it more, and today we showed a lot of fight.
"That's what you have to do every game, today if you drop off a slight percentage they will punish you. We did very well. It's important to get a clean sheet and we move on.
"Always is like that [a battle vs City], when certain moments happen and give fuel to the fire in a positive way. Started with the hard work we put on the pitch, the minimum that is expected at this beautiful football club. We showed it and that's the energy to push forward. The crowd played a big part in that, especially when we had a difficult start to the season."
Goalscorer Salah echoed Van Dijk's thoughts and suggested the victory could kick-start Liverpool's season. However, Salah stopped short of declaring Liverpool back in a title race on the back of the three points that lifted them to eighth position.
He said: "This side is always hard for us to play, they dominate games, keep the ball. We have to take the three points, carry on, our position in the league isn't the best.
"Hopefully it gives us more confidence. We have to start winning games, last few years there are a few weeks we're not at our best. We started last week and today too.
"We are still far away from [a title race], we need to focus on each game, one at a time. We don't have to think about the title at the moment. Personally, I always want to fight for the title. One game at a time, we need to focus because there's a gap to first and second. Everyone here should be in a better position than we are. The players are excited. That gives us a good push for the next game."
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