Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has revealed his delight with his side's character after they came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at the Etihad stadium.
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City have maintained 100 per cent Premier League unbeaten home record this season; and this was under threat when Philippe Coutinho put Brendan Rodgers' in-form side in front early on.
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However, free-scoring City were a constant threat in the first half and they moved ahead by the break - courtesy of goals from skipper Vincent Kompany and Alvaro Negredo.
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Whilst Liverpool posed plenty of questions thereafter, City remained firm as they held on for three precious points.
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And Pellegrini reveals that he was very impressed with his side's decisive efforts.
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"It was very important [to win] because Liverpool were the best team in the Premier League," Pellegrini told reporters.
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"They were top of the table before the match so if they won they would be four points in front of us.
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"It was very important, especially when we were losing 1-0, the personality of the team to go for the game.
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"I'm very happy with our response, because it's not easy when you play such a difficult team who can play on the counter-attack when you are losing 1-0.
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It's very easy for them to have space, but we defended-very well."
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Now that just three points separate the top four teams in the Premier League, Pellegrini is predicting an enthralling race for the title.
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He said: "It's just half of [the] Premier League [season completed];we have the second half that will be very close with five or six teams going for the title."
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City now lie second in the Premier League table, merely a point behind league leaders Arsenal.
He has no choice but to be happy with Manchester City. But I wonder why so much noise is made about them. They're still not on top of the league!
Manuel Pellegrini and his boys did nt show up in today's game against Crystal Palace. The win they got was a very lucky one
Manchester City have been making their team proud in this season so far. They've won every crucial match.