The Liverpool midfielder showed nous that was needed at the exact moment in the 2-0 win over Man City.

The home faithful inside the Etihad Stadium had erupted - only for their celebrations to be swiftly curtailed. After the Egyptian King had opened the scoring for Liverpool, his heir apparent thought he'd levelled for Manchester City.

Omar Marmoush, City's £59 million January signing, finished into the far corner. But the offside was raised - and Mo Salah's finish from a well-worked Reds set-piece kept the visitors ahead.

Had Marmoush not strayed offside, an equaliser would have been what Pep Guardiola's side deserved. Liverpool had to soak up plenty of early pressure and their breakthrough in the 13th minute came against the run of play. Taking the lead did not give the Reds any respite, though. City continued in the ascendency and put Arne Slot's visitors under pressure. They needed some respite.

And after trying to thwart Marmoush's shot on 30 minutes, Alexis Mac Allister gave Liverpool the break they needed. The midfielder picked up an issue when trying to block Marmoush's effort and required treatment. It lasted a couple of minutes, with Mac Allister subsequently continuing.

Now, it's not to say that the Argentina midfielder wasn't hurt. Far from it. He was assessed thoroughly by Liverpool's medical team. But Mac Allister was in no rush to get to his feet nor was he hurrying to get off the pitch so the encounter could continue. Mac Allister took all of the time that he was afforded. In truth, it was shrewd. It proved pivotal.

That's because it took the sting out of the game. Liverpool managed to dictate the tempo for the next few minutes. Trent Alexander-Arnold got on the overlap and had a cross cut out. Then the advantage was doubled. Alexander-Arnold set Salah free and he cut back from Josko Gvardiol before teeing up Dominik Szoboszlai, who kept his composure to finish. It was a hammer blow for City.

In truth, they barely looked like scoring for the remaining 53 minutes plus stoppage time. Marmoush went the closest seconds after Liverpool had their own goal denied for offside in the second period through Curtis Jones. Otherwise, the home side were consistently frustrated by the Reds' stoic defence.

There were opportunities when Liverpool could have tried to extend their lead. As City committed players forward, there were openings. Yet Slot's troops were sage. They knew that piling too many men forward in their own right could have left them vulnerable. There was no need. Some would have liked Liverpool to have gone for the jugular and put the game to rest. However, had City got a goal back then it could have been the Reds' downfall.

Instead, they delivered another blow to second-placed Arsenal. The gap between the Premier League leaders and the Gunners has been extended to 11 points. Granted, Liverpool have played one game more but it is a sizeable advantage. Eleven games are remaining for the Reds. Mathematically, they can claim the title if they are perfect in their next seven fixtures as Arsenal visit in the third-last game.

Slot is pragmatic to know that might not be the case, though. Newcastle United visit on Wednesday and that will be a stern test. However, what cannot be denied is Liverpool are in the driving seat and will need all of the nous that Mac Allister displayed from every member of the squad.