Leroy Sane has warned Liverpool that Manchester City are ready to pounce on any more slip-ups in the title race.

Champions City cut Liverpool's lead at the top of the Premier League to four points with a 2-1 victory in a tense clash at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.

Sane himself settled a ferocious encounter with a well-taken strike in the 72nd minute, his low angled shot going in off the post.

"We have put more pressure on Liverpool," the German winger said. "We're just four points behind them, and they know it, too.

"They have to keep up, but we also have to keep up. It's now a little bit more interesting.

"It was really important to win a game at home against Liverpool. It gives you more confidence to know we are closer and it's not over already."

The compelling contest of the country's top two sides was fought at a fierce pace that barely relented. City ultimately prevailed but Sane admitted the hosts had to dig deep.

The 22-year-old, whose winning effort came eight minutes after Roberto Firmino had cancelled out Sergio Aguero's opener, said: "The players all felt how intense it was, especially given how important the game was.

"We are always going to fight until the end, it doesn't matter what the result is. We always want to score, to show who we are and how we play.

"We ran a lot and fought a lot, and everyone could see how much we wanted to win the game.

"It was really tense. You could see in every tackle, every pass, that everyone was really focused on the game, to not make mistakes, as we all know how difficult it is to play against big teams with big players.

"One wrong pass, one mistake, and you get really punished.

"It was one of the biggest performances since I came here. Liverpool are, at the moment, maybe the best team in Europe or the world, so we were happy we could beat them."