Tony Pulis admits City fell victim to a 'clinical performance from a world class side' on Wednesday night as Liverpool secured a 4-0 victory.
Goals from Fernando Torres, Glen Johnson, Dirk Kuyt and David N'gog inflicted a first defeat of the campaign on the Potters, and whilst Pulis declared himself pleased with his side's showing in the aftermath of the game, he admits it was just a case of coming up against a better team.
"I can't fault a single one of them because they all gave it a real good go, unfortunately we just got beaten by a world class side," he told Stoke City Player.
"I think when they have their tails up they are a great team and I thought Johnson and Kuyt on the right and Benayoun on the left were excellent, and then Torres up front as well, he was fantastic.
"They made as many chances as they did last year and scored four goals, we made more chances than last year and didn't score. That's just the way it goes.
"But like I have said they have quality and they will have their moments in every game they play in, and the moments they have got tonight they were clinical and they have taken their chances."
The scoreline in truth doesn't tell the whole story of the game as the Potters for long periods proved a real handful for Rafael Benitez's side. However, the timings of the goals proved to be crucial as Pulis explains.
"I thought the result flattered them really but you have to take it on the chin," he said.
"The timing of all of their goals was disappointing from our point of view because we were up against it straight away after conceding after just three or four minutes.
"Then to concede with virtually the last kick of the first half was a catastrophic blow for us.
"We had looked like we could get back into it and we had a few chances, especially Rory's just after half time, but they have quality throughout the squad and their goalkeeper is no different.
"We tried to push them back by bringing on Ricardo [Fuller] and Liam [Lawrence], but they caught us on the break on two occasions late on."
