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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was delighted with two-goal hero Hugo Ekitike after the Frenchman fired the Reds up to sixth in the Premier League standings.
Ekitike opened the scoring after just 46 seconds at Anfield before he then doubled the home side's lead in the second half, heading home a Mohamed Salah corner kick.
Signed from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer, Ekitike had struggled in front of goal before this week, but followed up his two goals against Leeds United at Elland Road with another brace here.
"Just before I took him off, there was a moment he could hardly walk any more because of cramp," Slot said during his post-match press conference.
"What I see with him is all the players we brought had to adapt to the Premier League because of intensity. Some of them had to adapt to the Premier League and the Champions League.
"I see all of them making progress in that. Hugo had cramp today, but I can assure you he did twice as much at the beginning of the season when I had to take him off, and that is what this league brings as well.
"If you cannot be intense, it is so hard to win a game of football. The best athletes play in this league."
Ekitike went down shortly before he was replaced by Alexander Isak. The Liverpool team will now have a week of training before they travel to London next week to take on Spurs.
"I think I can see the players we have brought in this season have progressed," Slot had told Sky Sports earlier.
"They are getting stronger and stronger and fitter and fitter. I can see them getting stronger in the duels they play. Hugo is an example of that, but others are examples of that too."
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Ekitike was not the only player to impress on the day. Salah looked good on his return to the side, though he missed a good chance to score, and Florian Wirtz and Curtis Jones played very well too.
On Wirtz, Slot told BBC Match of the Day: "The way he handles the ball and how comfortable he is with that... I think he is also one of the players I say when he is getting better and better.
"He is getting stronger and stronger. All the hard work the players have put in over the last few months is paying off. After so many games played, it is a week where hopefully we can recover a little bit. There will be some training time."
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