Liverpool relied on a touch of Brazilian magic to come from behind and beat Stoke City 2-1 at the bet365 Stadium this afternoon.
Jonathan Walters had given the home side a deserved lead in the closing stages of the first half, but Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino both came off the bench at the interval and scored in quick succession to help the visitors return to winning ways.
Having dropped points late against Bournemouth on Wednesday night, Liverpool went into the match knowing that a win was needed if they were to keep the top-four race in their own hands, with Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City all having won away to Stoke already this season.
However, Jurgen Klopp's team selection raised a number of eyebrows with both Firmino and Coutinho left on the bench and the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ben Woodburn selected in an unfamiliar formation.
The Reds struggled to adapt to the changes and Stoke made the brighter start to the match, putting the ball in the back of the net after less than three minutes only for the fit-again Xherdan Shaqiri to be flagged offside.
Saido Berahino then had a chance to open his Stoke account when the ball broke kindly for him inside the penalty area, but he took a touch instead of shooting first time and that allowed the Liverpool defence to get back and clear the danger.
Stoke continued to enjoy the better of the contest in the first half, though, and Marko Arnautovic was almost gifted the opener shortly after the half-hour mark when Dejan Lovren's attempted interception only sent the ball into the winger's path, but his first-time volley slammed into the side-netting.
Liverpool felt that they should have had a penalty just before half time when Woodburn went down under the challenge of Erik Pieters, but Mike Dean waved the claims away - much to the disgust of Klopp.
The German's mood was not improved when Stoke went straight up the other end and opened the scoring either, with Shaqiri beating Ragnar Klavan on his way to the byline before standing a cross up for an unmarked Walters to nod home from close range.
It was the boyhood Everton fan's seventh Premier League goal against his favourite opponents, putting him behind only Andy Cole and Thierry Henry as the players to have netted most against the Reds.
Klopp wasted no time in switching things up after such a tepid first-half showing, with Coutinho and Firmino both coming off the bench at half time and bringing about an immediate improvement for the visitors.
Stoke could have given themselves a cushion seven minutes after the restart though, with Simon Mignolet being forced into a fine stop to deny Charlie Adam from point-blank range after Georginio Wijnaldum's header had put his side in trouble.
James Milner and Divock Origi then had shots at goal at the other end as Liverpool began to apply some pressure, and they created their first real chance of the contest when Firmino drew a save from Lee Grant at the near post.
The Brazilian pair had certainly made an impact, and Grant was forced to get down smartly to his left to keep out a powerful low strike from Coutinho shortly afterwards as the Reds continued to knock on the door.
It was the woodwork that saved the hosts on the hour mark when Coutinho's corner was met by Lovren, who crashed a firm header against the crossbar with Grant beaten.
Wijnaldum then sliced an effort wide of the target following another corner before Liverpool finally found the breakthrough. Stoke could only clear a cross as far as Coutinho, who buried his first-time finish into the bottom corner with aplomb.
The goal was Coutinho's 30th in the Premier League, taking him past Juninho as the highest-scoring Brazilian in the division's history, but his glory lasted all but two minutes before he was outshone by his compatriot.
Firmino beat the offside trap to race on to a lofted through-ball over the top before lashing a stunning first-time volley past Grant and into the top corner.
Having seen the match turned on its head in double-quick time Stoke had a glorious opportunity to hit straight back when Arnautovic picked out Berahino at the back post, but the striker - without a Premier League goal since February 2016 - saw his effort sensationally kept out by Mignolet when he looked certain to score.
It proved to be a match-winning stop from the Belgian, with Liverpool this time able to see the game out as they picked up their first away league win of 2017 - a victory that keeps them third in the table, now nine points clear of Arsenal and Manchester United.
Stoke, meanwhile, have now lost their last four Premier League matches and slip down to 13th place in the Premier League table.
Barney Corkhill
