LONDON: Liverpool’s players overcame an unexpected test of their Premier League title credentials against last-placed Sheffield United on Thursday. Manchester United, meanwhile, went into meltdown at Chelsea.

This was a latest reminder of the gulf that separates English football’s fiercest rivals ahead of their clash at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Liverpool are back on top after a 3-1 win against Sheffield United, while United conceded two goals in stoppage time in a stunning 4-3 loss at Chelsea.

Liverpool’s win further demonstrated the resolve of Jurgen Klopp’s team and the growing influence of Alexis Mac Allister, whose stunning second-half strike set up victory.

Anfield erupted as the Argentina international unleashed an unstoppable drive from the edge of the box in the 76th minute.

The atmosphere had been getting increasingly tense before that with the game locked at 1-1. Substitute Cody Gakpo added a third for Liverpool in the 90th to make the win look more routine than it was.

“We needed Macca’s wonder goal to turn it around. The impact he can have is massive,” Klopp said of Mac Allister, who is the first Liverpool midfielder to score or assist in six consecutive games since Steven Gerrard in 2013. “We had to dig very deep, but that is normal. It’s tricky, they had such a low block, but you have to do better. Our attitude was good, the football was not great in a lot of moments.”

While Liverpool could be knocked off the top again by the time it heads to United on Sunday, the Merseyside club keeps on coming up with the answers as it stares down the challenge of Arsenal and Manchester City.

By contrast, United’s season descended deeper into crisis after losing in dramatic circumstances at Chelsea.

Chelsea staged a last-gasp comeback with Cole Palmer bagging a hat-trick to turn a match on its head after United seemed to have staged their own unlikely turnaround in a thriller.

It doesn’t get any easier for Erik ten Hag’s team, which has to pick itself up for the challenge of facing a Liverpool team that is growing in confidence in its pursuit of the title.

Chelsea had raced into a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes with a strike by captain Conor Gallagher and a Palmer penalty.

Goals by Alejandro Garnacho — after a Moises Caicedo error — and Bruno Fernandes before halftime and another in the 67th minutes by Garnacho turned the tide towards United, who are chasing qualification for next season’s Champions League.

But with the Blues looking beaten, Diogo Dalot brought down Noni Madueke in the box and after a nail-biting VAR check Palmer stroked home from the spot for the second time on the night to level the match at 3-3 in the 10th minute of added time.

A minute later, he blasted a shot that deflected off United midfielder Scott McTominay into the net to claim his 16th league goal of the season and send the home fans into raptures.

United’s 12th league defeat of the campaign was played out in front of new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe at Stamford Bridge and came after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brentford.

The pressure on Ten Hag is growing.

“Definitely a setback and now we have to deal with this and get up,” said Ten Hag. “We are resilient and you have seen that today. The quality of our football is really high, but football is about results and you have to bring it over time.”

United have struggled this season but they have been a thorn in Liverpool’s side -- drawing away in the league and claiming a 4-3 win in an unforgettable FA Cup quarter-final to end the Anfield side’s hopes of an unprecedented quadruple.

The tension is also likely to be ramped up on Liverpool assuming Arsenal and City both win on Saturday when they are away at Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace respectively, although pressure appears to be something Klopp’s side’s thrive on.

“I am happy we play on Sunday, we cannot change that,” he said. “I don’t see the problem. The game we played tonight was nothing to do with yesterday, and Sunday will be nothing to do with the other results.”

Mac Allister insisted avenging their FA Cup loss was not the primary motivation with so much already at stake.

“I don’t know if it’s revenge but for sure it will be an important game for us because if we want to win something we have to win every game and that’s the aim,” said Mac Allister.

PALMER HAT-TRICK

Chelsea came into the match without a win against United in 12 Premier League meetings but were ahead in just the fourth minute through captain Gallagher.

Palmer doubled the home side’s lead with his first penalty in the 19th minute after Anthony felled Marc Cucurella in a torrid opening for the visitors.

But United were handed a lifeline in the 34th minute when Caicedo inexplicably gave the ball away to Garnacho, who burst forward and coolly slotted home.

Five minutes later they were all square when Dalot’s cross found Fernandes, who headed home at the back post.

Play swung wildly from end to end in a thrilling second period but Garnacho headed home a pinpoint cross from the outside of Antony’s left boot to put United ahead.

The visitors appeared set for all three points but the officials signalled there would be eight minutes of added time and boyhood United fan Palmer turned the game on its head.

Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino, whose grip on the job at Stamford Bridge has been questioned with the club stuck in mid-table, paid tribute to Palmer.

“The impact is amazing. He is doing a fantastic job, it is difficult to talk more about him. Today he showed the mentality and the quality,” the Argentine told the BBC, adding he had urged Palmer on in the closing minutes. “I said, ‘Cole, two minutes more’ and to believe.”

The victory took Chelsea up to 10th, five points behind United with a game in hand and still hoping to snatch a Europa League spot despite their stop-start season.

Liverpool’s win moved it two points clear of second-placed Arsenal and three ahead of City in third, but Sheffield had threatened to spring a surprise in the race for the title.

A bizarre opener by Darwin Nunez after 17 minutes when he closed down keeper Ivo Grbic and blocked his attempted clearance into the net looked set to open the floodgates as Liverpool sought the win they needed to dislodge Arsenal from top spot.

But the Reds were way below their best and an adventurous United side stunned the Anfield crowd shortly after halftime when a when Gustavo Hamer met a cross with a header which glanced in off the leg of the unfortunate Connor Bradley.

Liverpool were struggling to quell a lively United side but Mac Allister took matters in to his own hands with a finish that sent the home crowd into raptures — his fierce shot spinning and rising into the top corner past a helpless Grbic.

Sheffield are 10 points adrift of the safety zone and look set for a swift return to the Championship.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2024