Playing like a side that had won nine of their last 10 home league games, City started confidently against the champions. Giorgi Mamardashvili soon found himself in hot water when his knee caught Jeremy Doku, who was gliding into a shooting position in the box, having nicked possession from Ibrahima Konate.
However, the Georgian shot-stopper swiftly atoned for his error, diving low to prevent Haaland from opening the scoring from the resultant penalty.
Undeterred, the hosts remained in the ascendancy, threatening through Rayan Cherki, who dug out a shot that deflected over the bar, shortly before an effervescent Doku worked a shooting angle to force a near-post save from Mamardashvili.
It seemed like a matter of time before City would break the deadlock, and with 29 minutes on the clock, Haaland was the man to do it, heading home Matheus Nunes’ searching ball, despite Konate’s attempted intervention.
Liverpool were firmly second best throughout the first half, yet a quality corner delivery from Mohamed Salah and an equally impressive header from Virgil van Dijk appeared to draw them level before the interval, only to be denied by a VAR check that found Andrew Robertson to be standing in an offside position.
Hopes that the Reds were turning the tide on recent poor results were fading fast, and City hammered home their superiority in first-half stoppage time, with Van Dijk dangling out a foot to deflect Nico Gonzalez’s low effort past Mamardashvili.
A period of Liverpool resurgence suggested that there could yet be a fightback from the Reds, as Conor Bradley saw two crosses turned over - one inadvertently by Gonzalez and the other blazed high at the back post by Cody Gakpo.
However, Doku soon snuffed out any idea of a turnaround, shifting the ball to his right and bending in a delightful third for City and marking a magnificent performance with a deserved goal.
Dominik Szoboszlai saw a rifled shot saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, shortly before Salah dinked a delicate effort wide of the Italian’s post, but there was ultimately no way back for Liverpool.
The result confirms a seventh win in eight games across all competitions for City, who moved to within four points of leaders Arsenal as they marked Pep Guardiola’s 1000th game in management in perfect fashion.
Meanwhile, Arne Slot’s side have now suffered defeats in six of their last seven domestic encounters and fall to eighth, four points further adrift, having failed to win back-to-back away league head-to-heads since 1991.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jeremy Doku (Manchester City)