Erling Haaland is human after all. The Manchester City sensation, who has already netted an incredible 15 goals in the Premier League, including headline-grabbing hat tricks against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United in recent weeks, finally had a night to forget against Liverpool on Sunday night. 

City manager Pep Guardiola, who admitted that even he had been shocked by just how brilliant Haaland has been, warned before the game that there could yet be a rough patch for the Norwegian striker. He probably did not expect his prophecy to be fulfilled so soon. 

The defending champions arrived at Anfield as heavy favorites to inflict a fourth loss of the season on Liverpool, but Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez produced one of their best-ever performances to shut down Haaland, whose 10-game scoring streak in all competitions came to an end. 

While City's biggest goal threat was neutralized, it was Liverpool's top marksman Mohamed Salah who made the difference, pouncing on a rare mistake by Joao Cancelo to beat goalkeeper Ederson with a calm finish. 

Salah's goal snapped his five-match scoreless drought in the Premier League and condemned City to their first defeat of the season. It could very well be the crucial moment that transforms what has so far been a woeful, injury-plagued season for Liverpool into something filled with hope and ambition once more. 

"The win is very important," said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor for his protests in a frantic finale. "Against the best team in the world, it is incredibly hard, but we deserved the three points with an incredible performance." 

"Nobody could set a high press, so you have to be smart, and we were, and you have to defend with a big heart, which we did. It was a game of real passion, and we go there in the end."

Despite the morale-boosting victory, Liverpool remain 10 points behind City and 14 removed from Premier League leaders Arsenal, who showed their title credentials with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Leeds earlier in the day. 

But underestimate Liverpool at your own peril. Klopp's side came from 14 points back at one point last season to drag the title race down to the wire before falling short by just a single point.   

Guardiola knows only too well what it meant to lose one of the most important showdowns of the campaign. The Spanish tactician, who revealed he was hit with coins by home supporters behind him, fumed at the disallowance of a Phil Foden goal. The video assistant referee ruled out the in-form English star's effort for Haaland's foul on Fabinho.

"This is Anfield. The referee spoke with my assistant coaches and said, 'I'm not going to make fouls, and I will be clear.' All game it was play on and play on and play on. Except the goal [for Foden]," said Guardiola  

"The ref can decide: 'I'm going to whistle all the actions,' but he decided not to do it and then after he did it. When we scored a goal, it was not play on. This is the reality. We didn't lose the game for that because nobody knows what would have happened, but we had momentum and control and scored a goal."

Elsewhere in Spain, Real Madrid delivered a masterclass to beat Barcelona 3-1 in the 250th El Clasico at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo got on the scoresheet for the hosts, with Ferran Torres claiming a consolation goal for the visitors. 

Barca started the day with seven wins and a draw from their opening eight games in La Liga, but Carlo Ancelotti's team outclassed their Catalan counterparts in every department, exuding more hunger, aggression and ruthlessness throughout the encounter. 

It has been a disastrous week for Barca. Wednesday's draw with Inter Milan left them on the verge of a shock Champions League exit, and now this fresh defeat to their archrivals has given them another reality check. 

"They beat us on maturity, in knowing how to compete," said Barca coach Xavi. "We competed worse than our opponents; that's why we lost the game. They are a team that's more mature than ours at this moment." 

"We have to mature. Against Inter, Bayern Munich, in Milan, here, these are games where we weren't mature enough, but we will learn."