James Milner held his nerve to score a late penalty as Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Fulham.
Liverpool started the day one point behind leaders Manchester City and Sadio Mane’s 26th-minute strike after a neat one-two with Roberto Firmino gave Jurgen Klopp’s side the early advantage at Craven Cottage.
It was the Senegalese forward’s 20th goal of the season and his 11th in 11 games.
The Reds looked to be cruising for a comfortable victory as the clock ticked down but Ryan Babel came back to haunt his former club with an equaliser in the 74th minute after a woeful error from Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk, who is bookmakers’ favourite to be named PFA Player of the Year, horribly misjudged a defensive header and Babel made no mistake from close-range.
Second-half substitute Milner spared Van Dijk’s blushes by converting from the penalty spot after Fulham goalkeeper Sergio Rico dragged Mohamed Salah down inside the box.
The Englishman has still never lost a Premier League game in which he has scored.
Milner took some of the blame for Van Dijk’s mistake which almost cost Liverpool in the second half.
‘The gaffer told me to come on and calm it down and the first thing I do is slice it and put Virgil under pressure which wasn’t ideal,’ Milner told Sky Sports after Liverpool’s win. ‘The goal was important to put away.
You have to go back to what you practice, be calm and do what you do.’
Asked about his error, Van Dijk explained: ‘I am not giving excuses. I should have handled it better.
‘They scored but so did we and we have three points and move back to the top of the table. ‘We knew it would be tough. We made it difficult for ourselves.
We weren’t calm on the ball. We got the three points though and we can now focus on the national teams.’
