London — Fulham put Liverpool’s procession in direction of the Premier League title on pause with a deserved 3-2 win on Sunday, capitalising on dreadful defending to spice up their push for European soccer subsequent time period.
Alexis MacAllister gave the champions-elect an early lead after Liverpool have been arguably lucky to not concede a penalty, however that was pretty much as good because it obtained for the Reds, who then shipped three poor objectives in 14 minutes.
Ryan Sessegnon rifled house an excellent first-time volley, after stand-in right-back Curtis Jones did not clear a cross, earlier than a sequence of errors from Andy Robertson let Alex Iwobi rating.
Rodrigo Muniz accomplished the turnaround, profitable a second ball with a beautiful first contact forward of Virgil van Dijk then producing a chic end by Caoimhin Kelleher’s legs.
Conor Bradley arrange a nervy end when he performed in fellow substitute Luis Diaz to poke house with almost 20 minutes to play, however Fulham held on for the three factors.
Liverpool stay prime with 73 factors from 31 video games, 11 forward of Arsenal. They want a most of 11 factors from their remaining seven matches to win the title and, whereas that continues to be a digital certainty, their type will concern boss Arne Slot.
Fulham moved as much as eighth with 48 factors, three behind Manchester Metropolis in fifth, a spot more likely to be sufficient to safe a Champions League place subsequent time period.
Liverpool got here into the sport with one hand on the Premier League trophy however began poorly and will have given up the opener inside 5 minutes when Ibrahima Konate dawdled in his personal field and was dispossessed by Andreas Pereira.
Pereira tried to feed Muniz, with Kelleher taking down Pereira as Van Dijk clattered Muniz to the ground, however referee Chris Kavanagh waved away Fulham’s protests.
Liverpool then took the lead by MacAllister, who shrugged off a weak problem from Sander Berge and had time to select his spot from 25m. However Fulham drew degree within the twenty third minute by academy product Sessegnon, who met Jones’ skewed clearance with an unstoppable end.
Robertson then had a shocker, giving the ball to Iwobi whose shot was blocked after which headed again to him by Robertson, who deflected Iwobi’s effort previous Kelleher within the thirty second minute.
Muniz doubled the lead 5 minutes later when he plucked the ball out of the air with a unbelievable contact matched by a medical end to stun the league leaders.
Chelsea have been held to a 0-0 draw by their west London neighbours Brentford on Sunday, dealing a blow to the Blues of their hunt for a top-four end that may assure them a spot in subsequent season’s Champions League.
Chelsea supervisor Enzo Maresca made 5 modifications to the staff that beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Thursday with strikers Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto approaching solely as second-half substitutes Their introduction gave Chelsea extra chunk in assault after a flat first 45 minutes however they failed to essentially check Mark Flekken within the Brentford aim.
Bryan Mbeumo and Sepp van den Berg got here shut for the hosts late on.
Southampton suffered the earliest relegation in Premier League historical past once they misplaced 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur, confirming their demotion to the second tier regardless of having seven video games left within the season.
Southampton had wanted a victory to remain alive of their struggle for survival after Seventeenth-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers moved as much as 32 factors with Saturday’s comeback win at Ipswich City. However the south-coast membership have solely 10 factors after 31 video games to take a seat all-time low and 22 factors from the security zone.
Spurs took the lead by Brennan Johnson after Saints had a shot blocked on the different finish and the Welsh winger doubled their benefit simply earlier than halftime with a neatly taken aim.
Southampton didn’t threaten the Spurs aim till the ninetieth minute when Mateus Fernandes halved the deficit however any hopes of a comeback have been extinguished once they conceded a penalty and Mathys Tel transformed the spot kick to seal the three factors.
Reuters
