Liverpool returned to Premier League winning ways against Manchester City.

Mohamed Salah settled matters just 15 minutes from time when he raced clear of the visitors’ defence and dinked his finish into The Kop’s empty net.

A fiery closing stages saw Jurgen Klopp sent off from the touchline after he had raged at referee Anthony Taylor over a foul not given in the Reds’ favour.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Route One Reds’ fightback starts now

The last time that Alisson directly assisted Mohamed Salah against Mancunian opposition, it fuelled scenes and growing belief of a watershed moment.

Back then, Liverpool were en route to winning the Premier League title at a canter but Jurgen Klopp already gave up that fight 10 games into this season.

This result, however, offers a false perception to the German’s premature prediction after seeing off the reigning champions on a chaotic afternoon.

Rarely have Manchester City travelled to Anfield installed as favourites as they were for this encounter yet were made to look like underdogs at the outset.

Klopp’s side came flying out of the traps and continued to turn the screw despite their visitors slowly growing into the game as the first half wore on.

Salah’s decisive winner, straight out of the Route One manual, was no less than the Reds deserved as they belatedly begin to climb the league table.

Another victory over West Ham on Wednesday could propel them to within touching distance of a primary target in Champions League qualification.

If they can build that momentum, the gap with City and the rest of the chasing pack could be into single digits before the World Cup break arrives.

Unfancied duo keep City under wraps

Erling Haaland travelled to Merseyside with history firmly in his sights.

An emphatic start to life in his new surroundings had seen the statuesque City marksman threatening to smash a myriad of English goal scoring records.

But the Norway international’s hopes of emulating Jamie Vardy’s trend-setting run of finding the net in 11 consecutive top-flight fixtures fell hugely short.

Leicester City’s veteran striker might wish to send a gift basket to the AXA Training Centre in the coming days for his 2016 feat remaining unthreatened.

At a seventh time of asking, Haaland finally drew a blank in Premier League outings after being largely constrained by Liverpool’s resolute defence.

Joe Gomez, in particular, slotted into a slightly depleted backline seamlessly and ensured his opposite number was restricted to a string of half-chances.

Special praise is also reserved for James Milner, who avenged last season’s ordeal with Phil Foden by keeping his old club’s talisman heavily under wraps.

The pair’s inclusion on the team sheet had initially been greeted with a sense of trepidation against City’s growing embarrassment of attacking riches.

Few inside Anfield were complaining about their output at the final whistle.

Klopp caught in eye of the storm

For over seven years, Klopp had abided by English football’s guiding principles

Officials learned to live with the Liverpool manager’s touchline eccentricities on the proviso that they never strayed into the boundary of indiscipline.

All that changed in the 86th minute as Klopp was sent off for reacting wildly to Rodri’s unpunished challenge on Salah down The Kop’s right-hand corner.

In isolation, raging at Anthony Taylor for his willingness to let the game flow would have received a simple reprimand from the Wythenshawe referee.

Yet Klopp’s decision to goad Taylor into issuing a card was always going to culminate in an outcome which reflected poorly on him and Liverpool.

By his own admission, it was a rare out-of-character moment. That in itself underlines how intense an occasion this latest meeting with City became.

This fixture has become compulsive viewing of late and Klopp getting caught in the eye of its storm added a new layer of explosiveness to proceedings.