LIVERPOOL, England -- Embracing his teammates after a hugely significant win in the Premier League title race, Steven Gerrard looked to the skies and cried tears of joy. A first championship in 24 years is tantalizingly in sight for Liverpool and its inspirational captain. A 78th-minute winner by Philippe Coutinho earned Liverpool a 3-2 victory over title rival Manchester City and capped a thrilling and emotionally charged match at Anfield on Sunday. A 10th straight win kept Liverpool top of the standings and means four more victories in its last four matches will ensure the league trophy returns to Merseyside for the first time since 1990. "That is probably the biggest statement we have made so far," Gerrard said, moments after the leaving the pitch to a standing ovation and a pat on the back from City manager Manuel Pellegrini. "That was the longest 90 minutes I have probably played in. It felt like the clock was going backwards." Driven on by its passionate and frenzied support, Liverpool blew away City in a breathtaking opening, going 2-0 ahead thanks to goals by Raheem Sterling and Martin Skrtel inside 26 minutes. City produced a stirring second-half fightback, with David Silva scoring in the 57th before Glen Johnsons own goal five minutes later looked like giving the visitors a point. But Coutinho pounced on City captain Vincent Kompanys poor clearance to curl home a low strike, sending the home crowd into delirium. Jordan Hendersons injury-time red card for a studs-up challenge on Samir Nasri came too late to affect the outcome. An emotional Gerrard rounded up Liverpools players into a huddle after the final whistle and -- with his fist clenched -- delivered a rousing speech, imploring his teammates to keep going to the end of the season. For the title race is far from over. Third-place City is seven points behind Liverpool but with two games in hand. Second-place Chelsea is two points off the lead and also has the title in its own hands, with one of its last four games coming at Anfield on April 27. "The title does not finish today," Pellegrini said. "A lot of things will happen between now and the end of the season." All the momentum is with Liverpool, however, and it would mean so much to the club and its fans if it can win the league this season, given that Tuesday marks the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed in a stadium crush. Gerrards cousin was among those to die in the tragedy. Thousands of Liverpool fans lined the streets outside Anfield hours before kickoff to cheer the team bus into the ground -- "the game started on the way in," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said -- and the sea of flags, scarves and banners in the iconic Kop stand harked back to the days in the late 1970s and 80s when the club dominated English and European football. A string of tributes to mark the upcoming Hillsborough anniversary added to the gravitas of the contest and Citys players simply failed to deal with it in the first half. By the 26th minute, they had fallen two goals behind, lost midfield driving force Yaya Toure to a hamstring injury and their defence was being undone by the pace and movement of Luis Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling and the excellent Coutinho. The Liverpool crowd also played its part, following Rodgers orders to "unleash" themselves on City, and there was lift off inside the stadium when Sterling opened the scoring. Suarez played a pass in behind Kompany, whose fitness was in doubt after twisting his knee in training on Saturday. Sterling raced through before coming to a stop, befuddling Kompany and goalkeeper Joe Hart with some nifty footwork and then stroking home into an empty net. City looked rattled already and its predicament worsened in the 19th when Toure hobbled off. Then, after Gerrard had a header brilliantly saved by Hart, the midfielder whipped in the resulting corner for Skrtel to peel off Kompany and glance a header into the far corner. Cue furious scarf-waving across Anfield. "Poetry in Motion" was the chant from the Kop, but City reacted well and raised the tempo at the start of the second half, with the introduction of James Milner for Jesus Navas sparking an improvement. Milner crossed for Silva to poke home in the 57th and Silvas centre was deflected unwittingly into the net off Johnson five minutes later. It was all City but in a rare foray forward by Liverpool, Kompany miscued his clearance, Coutinho gathered and curled a shot into the corner. "We live with Hillsborough every day -- the families and the victims are in our thoughts every day," Rodgers said. "It was an inspiration for us, rather than something that held us back." 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Follow all the action live on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto, TSN Radio 690 in Montreal, TSN Radio 1260 in Edmonton and TEAM 1410 on Friday at 3pm et/Noon pt.Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Zach Randolph scored 22 points with 13 rebounds to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 97-89 win over the Indiana Pacers on Friday. Marc Gasol, coming off a career-high 32 points in Memphis season- opening win over Minnesota, deposited 20 points with six rebounds. Mike Conley added 17 points in the win. Chris Copeland came off the bench to score 16 points, while CJ Miles and Donald Sloan contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Indiana, which opened the season with a 103-91 win over Philadelphia. Final Score: Cleveland 114, Chicago 108 (OT) Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers didnt open their season how many anticipated. But they didnt have much time to dwell on Thursdays disappointing home opener, and that showed with a hard-fought overtime victory against a division rival on Friday. James scored 36 points with eight rebounds to lead Cleveland to a 114-108 win over the Chicago Bulls in the first installment of what proves to be a heated rivalry between the two teams. Tristan Thompson deposited 16 points with 13 rebounds -- 12 coming on the offensive glass -- and Kevin Love contributed a 16-point, 16-rebound double-double for the Cavs, who were 2-8 over their last 10 in Chicago. Kyrie Irving totaled 23 points in the win. Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich each scored 20 points for the Bulls, but Rose left the game late in the third with a sprained left ankle and did not return to the contest. Pau Gasol netted 15 points with nine boards and six blocks, and Mike Dunleavy added 14 points in the setback. Final Score: Milwaukee 93, Philadelphia 81 Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - O.J. Mayo scored 25 points off the bench and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 93-81 in a matchup between last years two worst teams on Friday night. The Sixers failed to score a point in the final 8:21, missing all 13 of their shots and turning the ball over four times. Jabari Parker had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Brandon Knight tallied 13 points, eight assists and seven boards while Larry Sanders added 15 rebounds for Milwaukee, which fell at Charlotte in overtime in its season opener on Wednesday night. Nerlens Noel posted his first career double-double, finishing with 14 points and 10 boards for the Sixers, who lost at Indiana in their first game of the year Wednesday night. Finall Score: Phoenix 94, San Antonio 89 Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.ddddddddddddcom) - Isaiah Thomas finally got the Phoenix Suns over the hump. Thomas had 23 points off the bench and the Suns defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-89 on Friday night. After the Suns came close many times throughout the game to take a lead over the defending champs, Thomas blew past Boris Diaw in the open floor to finally put the hosts in front 88-87 with 3:34 left. San Antonio trailed 92-89 with 6.5 seconds remaining following a timeout, but Diaw was whistled for a five-second violation just before he signaled for a 20-second timeout. Eric Bledsoe sunk two game-clinching free throws at the other end. Markieff Morris posted 20 points and 11 rebounds, Eric Bledsoe tallied 12 points and nine boards and Alex Len provided his first career double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds, off the pine for Phoenix, which beat the Los Angeles Lakers in its season opener Wednesday. Tony Parker supplied 19 points and six assists, while Tim Duncan added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who edged Dallas in their first game of the year on Tuesday. Final Score: Sacramento 103, Portland 94 Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Rudy Gay posted a game and season-best 40 points along with eight rebounds as Sacramento picked up its first win of the year with a 103-94 triumph over Portland on Friday night. DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison each contributed 17 points for the Kings, who shook off a season-opening 18-point loss to Golden State on Wednesday. LaMarcus Aldridge totaled 22 points and Damian Lillard poured in 20 for the Blazers, who were coming off a 17-point home win against Oklahoma City two days prior. Final Score: LA Clippers 118, LA Lakers 111 Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Blake Griffin scored a game-high 39 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers past the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-111, on Friday. Jamal Crawford had 22 points and five assists off the bench, Josh Redick supplied 15 points and Chris Paul scored 12 points with 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who were coming off a 93-90 win over Oklahoma City on Thursday. DeAndre Jordan finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Jordan Hill paced the Lakers with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, Kobe Bryant had 21 points and seven assists and Jeremy Lin contributed 17 points and nine assists in the teams third straight loss to start the season. 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