Netherlands centre-back Virgil van Dijk says he was happy Liverpool 'showed a lot of fight' when they hosted the Cityzens on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp's Reds secured a 1-0 win over Premier League champions Manchester City, thanks to a 76th-minute strike by forward Mohamed Salah.
The win moved Liverpool to the 8th spot in the English top flight, while Man City remain in the second spot, level on points with Spurs, four behind table-toppers Arsenal.
'It was always going to be very intense.'
"It takes a lot to get the three points," Liverpool defender Van Dijk told Sky Sports after the victory at Anfield.
"It was always going to be very intense. In the first half, I think we played quite well and we didn't give much away.
"Second half we had to defend a bit more but we won and that is the most important thing.
"For both sides, it is a lot of running, a lot of communication, and who wanted it more. We showed a lot of fight. If you drop a slight percentage they will punish you. It was important to get the clean sheet."
When asked about the impact of the Anfield atmosphere, the 31-year-old asserted: "It is always like that. When certain things happen in the game it can add fuel to the fire in a positive way for us. They [the crowd] played a big part, and that is what we need for the rest of the season, especially after a difficult start."
'We defended together'
Fabinho expressed his delight while speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, saying he was happy the Reds 'defended together' as a unit and is looking forward to more consistent performances from the Liverpool team.
"It was really important to win today in front of our fans after a really good game we played against Rangers" the Brazil midfielder said. "We knew City's quality for this game, we knew what we had to do and the team played an incredible game without the ball.
"We defended together, we knew we had to suffer a little bit but we suffer together and then after we created some good chances to score and then Mo Salah's goal gave us the win so we are very happy.
"Maybe [Liverpool played so well because the game was against Man City] because in a game like this, you always want to play your best. We know if you want to win against Man City, everyone has to be on top physically, technically and with the ball as well so we did it.
"We are still Liverpool Football Club. Of course it's not our best moment in the season but a win against City always shows what you are capable to do. We knew we had to win this game, whether it was against Man City or another team, we had to win. We showed the right mood and got the three points so that was really important.
"We have to keep this consistency and this was a really good game where we got three points against the best team in the league but we have to focus on the next game against West Ham on Wednesday so we have to rest and prepare because that will be a really tough game as well. We have to focus on the next game and prepare to be at our best again."
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