Two huge teams. Two attack-mided styles of play. Manchester City and Liverpool locked horns at the Etihad and the anticipation was palpable inside the stadium before kick-off with fans aware of the hugely entertaining fixture they were about to witness.
And both sides were on the front foot from the off, trying to find the breakthrough as soon as possible in order to get the other side under pressure.
Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah looked lively for their respective teams as City claimed more control in midfield and Liverpool exploited the hosts' defensive woes.
Emre Can created danger going forward, but he failed to break down City's play in midfield. De Bruyne and Fernandinho ran riot and the latter forced Mignolet into action with a low strike just creeping into the bottom corner before the keeper palmed the ball away for a corner.
The home side's defensive line looked all at sea, and Salah was allowed space in behind. Once again, he managed to skip past Otamendi and into the box but could not find a teammate in the middle.
Just when Liverpool were posing more of a threat, City hit against the run of play. De Bruyne dissected the Reds' defence with a through ball to release Aguero and the striker did brilliantly to round Mignolet before finishing into an empty net.
Liverpool managed to recompose, firstly when Can blasted a free-kick wide then when Mane threaded a ball in for Salah behind the defence. Ederson pulled off a fine save to deny the Egyptian who was looking to slot the ball into the bottom corner.
City fought back with Gabriel Jesus breaking into the Liverpool area and firing straight at Mignolet. The resulting free-kick saw Mignolet deflect John Stones' effort after the ball fell for the defender eight yards out.
After coming a whisker away from going two goals down, just moments later Liverpool's troubles increased as they went down to 10 men.
Sadio Mane was given his marching orders after accidentally getting a boot to Ederson's jaw. Matip's long ball allowed the forward to run at it and the keeper raced off his line, getting to the ball first and cathcing the Liverpool man's high boot.
The game was paused for while the Brazilian keeper received treatment before being carried off on a stretcher. Bravo came on in his place as Liverpool looked to hold on until half time with eight minutes added on.
Gabriel Jesus wheeled away in celebration after firing past Mignolet, but he was called offside. Just a couple of minutes later, however, De Bruyne provided another inviting cross for Jesus to head past Mignolet and City got their second.
After the break, Liverpool had a mountain to climb. Despite their bright start, Mane's unfortunate incident had rendered his team powerless as City claimed full control of the fixture.
Jurgen Klopp decided to hand Oxlade-Chamberlain his Liverpool debut, surprisingly bringing off Mohamed Salah to strengthen his midfield with the former Arsenal man.
However, the Citizens banged in a third, and it was again preceded by a disallowed goal, this time as Aguero's toe-poke finish was ruled offside. Aguero was was then released by Fernandinho, and the striker unselfishly squared the ball for Jesus to convert.
Guardiola, having seen his new strike partnership flourish, denied Jesus the chance of getting a hat-trick as he brought on Leroy Sane, and the German also got on the scoresheet.
The hosts were understandably seeing all of the ball with Liverpool limited to damage control. Benjamin Mendy, who was on the forefront for much of the encounter, found Sane with an early cross and the winger flashed the ball into the net at the near post.
The Reds were defeated before the final whistle, but Sane had just enough time to fire a sensational effort into the top corner to round off City's commanding win.