Manchester City's Leroy Sane beats Liverpool with goal off post

Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Leroy Sane struck a shot off of the post and into the net to help Manchester City hand Liverpool its first loss of the Premier League season on Thursday.

The Sky Blues left Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England with a 2-1 victory against the Reds.

"Liverpool are still top and it's enough points to become winners, but at the same time it's good time for me to congratulate these incredible players what they've done over the past 16 months," City manager Pep Guardiola told ManCity.com.

"[City] showed everyone how good they are against and incredible team."

Raheem Sterling picked up a pass just past midfield during the 72nd minute sequence. Sterling dribbled through the defense before leading Sane into the left side of the box.

Sane took one touch before blasting a left-footed shot toward the far post. The rip drilled the post, beating a diving Alisson, and rolled into the near-post netting for the game-winner.

Sergio Aguero gave the home squad its initial lead when he beat Alisson in the 40th minute. Aguero initially went down in the box during the sequence, but wasn't awarded a foul. Bernardo Silva collected a loose ball outside of the box and dribbled around the left corner before finding the end line.

Silva then ripped in a pass to his right, finding Aguero. The Argentinian striker brought the ball down before roofing a shot into the near post netting.

The Sky Blues carried the 1-0 edge into the half before Roberto Firmino hit the equalizer for Liverpool in the 64th minute. Trent Alexander-Arnold bent in a cross during the possession, finding Andy Robertson at the back post. Robertson sent the ball back toward the near-post, where Firmino waited for a diving header into an empty net.

Sane electrified the crowd with the winner just eight minutes later.

"[It was] pretty intense," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told LiverpoolFC.com. "It had wild moments, both teams obviously have a lot of respect for each other. Let me say it like this, we [have] played better games, but we took the intensity today."

"City had a few more moments when they controlled the game, but we had these moments as well - not as long or maybe as often as City, but it's an away game and that's absolutely OK. And the opponent is City and they are used to it much longer than we are. In the end, you can say post [and] in or post [and] out can make a massive difference -- today we witnessed that."

Liverpool battles Wolves in the FA Cup at 2:45 p.m. on Monday at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England. City battles Rotherham at 9 a.m. on Sunday in Manchester.