City have had their bumps in the road this season with defeats against Brighton, Tottenham and Aston Villa, but two of those losses came back in August.
A summer of change saw the old guard such as Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson departing after playing a key role in their recent years of success.
But a run of one loss in their past 14 matches shows City have regained the consistency of results that has led them to six titles in eight years and the holy grail of the Champions League.
Spearheaded by goal machine Haaland, the unstoppable striker’s goal saw him take his impressive total to 28 goals for club and country in just 18 appearances so far this season.
Following the loss at Villa last month, Guardiola asked for his midfielders and wingers to chip in with goals and the unheralded Nico Gonzalez and dazzling Jeremy Doku answered that call against Liverpool.
In the absence of Rodri, fellow Spaniard Gonzalez has grown into the number six role and had more touches of the ball than any City player, while left-back Nico O’Reilly superbly shackled Mohamed Salah for large periods of the contest, winning more tackles (five) than any other player on the field.
“Nico O’Reilly was amazing,” said Guardiola. “In general, everyone was extraordinary because they are still the champions.”
Guardiola also singled out Bernardo Silva for praise saying the midfielder “was there” even though he “struggled” last season, adding: “He has been an incredible signing for us and in the way we played [against Liverpool] he is a master.”
The Portuguese, along with team-mate Phil Foden, ran more than 12.5km on Sunday – only twice has a player covered more ground in a Premier League game this season.
Former Premier League striker Dion Dublin said: “Guardiola has got his team where he wants them again. This is City of old. This is the City that we remember, dominating games.
“I do believe Liverpool, on this occasion, were outclassed by a team who are just showing us not to write them off.”
The Reds dropped to eighth place in the table, eight points behind the Gunners, and boss Arne Slot said he feels five defeats “is too many” and the “last thing we should think about now is the title race”.
Guardiola and City, though, will be doing precisely the opposite.
Additional reporting by BBC Sport’s Chris Collinson
