And that lead is effectively eight points, such is the champions’ vastly superior goal difference.

Liverpool have been stuck on 17 title wins for 19 years, while United have slowly closed the gap.

And City boss Mark Hughes summed up the situation, saying: “Manchester United will have to slip up now, and they do not do that very often.

“There are still a lot of games to go, but it is very much in their hands and they will have to lose three games now. You cannot see them doing that.”

Hughes’ side did his former employers a massive favour after Craig Bellamy’s deflected shot put City ahead, only a late Dirk Kuyt strike preserving Liverpool’s 14-month unbeaten home league record.

“That was an excellent performance and we were good value for the point and probably deserved more,” Hughes added.

“We were playing a side going for the title, and after we had been involved in a tiring UEFA Cup game in Denmark on Thursday.

“But we put in an excellent performance, we were strong and resilient and we deserved the result.”

Hughes also praised Bellamy, whose shot from the edge of the box secured the lead in the second period.

He said: “It is always the case a club’s ex-players want to do well against them.

“Craig is a proud man and maybe he feels he did not get a fair crack of the whip when he was at Liverpool. He has played extremely well since he joined us.”

A despondent Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez stopped short of saying his side cannot win the title, but accepted that “it will be more difficult now.”

Benitez’s contract negotiations again cast a shadow over Anfield, but he would only say: “I have not said anything about this in a press conference, and we must now concentrate on football.”

However, it is now accepted that Benitez has had another disagreement over the terms of his new contract, and further negotiations will not take place until after Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.

Benitez said: “I have confidence that we can still win it, but we must win our next two league games against Middlesbrough and Sunderland and then win against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

“Then we may have a different situation. But I just accept that this has been a bad result and it clearly makes it more difficult for us to win the title.

“We clearly have to win our games and see where that takes us. And clearly Manchester United are playing well and winning games.”

Benitez will assess skipper Steven Gerrard’s fitness today before deciding whether his hamstring injury can be risked in the Bernabeu.

He added: “We will talk with Steven and the doctors, he is improving but we will make a decision after he has trained.”