Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League table Saturday lunchtime, as goals from Sergio Agüero, Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sané gave them a comfortable 5-0 victory over a ten-man Liverpool. 

It was The Reds that started well with Mohamed Salah coming close before Agüero opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Things got worse for Liverpool as Sadio Mané was dismissed before Jesus added a second deep into added time. 

Pep Guardiola's side proved relentless at the beginning of the second period with Agüero's effort being chalked off before Jesus sealed the result with the third. Jürgen Klopp's men were on the  ropes from there as the substitute Sané added another two to seal an excellent victory for The Citizens. 

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Taking the lead against the run of play 

The clash at the Etihad was the first real test against title contenders for Guardiola's men and off the back of their win over Arsenal Liverpool's confidence was high, and they made a good start to the clash. 

Their best chance came in the 22nd minute as their record signing Salah managed to skip past Nicolás Otamendi's sliding challenge, but his tame effort saw Ederson collect easily at the near-post. 

The Egyptian was made to pay for his lack of accuracy as City found themselves in the lead, it was excellent from Kevin De Bruyne as he sliced open the Liverpool defence with his pass into the feet of Agüero. The Argentine was cool as he rounded Simon Mignolet and slotted into an empty net. 

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Using the extra man to their advantage 

Despite the initial knock back Liverpool looked to get themselves back in the contest but that was washed away when they were reduced to ten in somewhat controversial circumstances. A  ball over the top sent Mané running and the winger clashed with Ederson, from the replays despite having eyes only for the ball the Senegalese international's studs were up and Jon Moss showed no hesitation in sending Mané for an early shower. 

Ederson came out much worse from the clash with Mané as he remained on the turf which saw eight minutes added on, City looked to go for the jugular with Jesus having a goal chalked off before his persistence was rewarded with City's second. 

De Bruyne was at the forefront once again as he put another ball on a plate this time for the Brazilian and it was easy enough for the youngster to head home from close-range. 

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Seeing off the result 

Guardiola's side came out for the second period just as hungry as Agüero was denied by the offside flag, but it wasn't long before Jesus secured the points. 

His compatriot Fernandinho started the move as he released Agüero, the Argentine unselfishly squared it to the youngster and he coolly slotted past Mignolet. 

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Wrapping it up in style 

Liverpool looked down and out after the third, but City were far from done as Sané added another two towards the end. 

The first came in the 77th minute as Benjamin Mendy looked to impress on his home debut as he picked out the killer pass for the German who flashed it past Mignolet at the near post. 

He rounded off the scoring in the first minute of extra-time and he did it in quite some style, Sané picked it up just outside the area and he whipped beautifully into the top corner to seal an excellent three points for The Citizens. 

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.