Emre Can has scored one of the goals of the season to earn Liverpool a 1-0 victory over Watford in their Premier League fixture at Vicarage Road.
In added-on time in the first half, the midfielder's overhead kick from 16 yards found the top corner and it proved enough to give his side a win which gives them a four-point cushion in the race for a Champions League spot.
During the early stages of the game, Liverpool were dealt a huge blow when Philippe Coutinho was forced off with a dead leg, and it led to the early introduction of Adam Lallana, who was making his first appearance since the middle of March.
In a lacklustre opening, Watford also made an alteration after an injury to Miguel Britos, and Can tried to get Liverpool onto the offensive with a 30-yard strike which was parried away by Heurelho Gomes.
The home side were offering very little in the final third, but the Merseyside giants were largely ineffective up the other end and it took two moments of brilliance for them to get on top.
With four minutes of the first half remaining, the ball fell to Lallana around 25 yards from goal but his first-time volley struck the underside of the crossbar before Watford were able to clear.
However, it was only a temporary reprieve as Can gave Liverpool the lead in the most outrageous fashion, with Lucas Leiva's floated ball into the middle leading to an overhead kick from just inside the penalty area which found the top corner of Gomes's net.
That goal led to Liverpool returning for the second half very much on the front foot, with James Milner seeing a free kick saved within minutes of the restart.
Divock Origi then saw a 25-yard curler tipped away by Gomes, before the attacker failed to make the most of being played in behind the defence, instead shooting too close to the goalkeeper.
Watford had been poor in the final third but Etienne Capoue's rasping drive from 25 yards came close to beating Simon Mignolet, who diverted the ball over the crossbar.
Lallana should have done better after being found 20 yards out from a counter-attack, and Watford almost capitalised when Daryl Janmaat tried to catch Mignolet out from 30 yards, only for the goalkeeper to claw the ball out.
In the final minute of added-on time, Daniel Sturridge thought he was about to score from just inside the penalty area but as the clock ticked over 90 minutes, he was denied by a superb save from Gomes.
With less than 60 seconds left, Watford came within inches of netting a dramatic equaliser through Sebastian Prodl but after the ball had fallen invitingly for him inside the penalty area, he hit his volley against the crossbar.
It epitomised the small margins in the grand scheme of things, but Liverpool were full value for the three points which give them an advantage over the chasing pack.
Darren Plant
