Liverpool have closed the gap on the Premier League's top four with a 1-0 home win over Fulham this evening.
Mohamed Salah's first half penalty was enough for Jurgen Klopp's side to take all three points in an overall comfortable evening at Anfield.
Fulham were depleted due to injuries for Andreas Pereira and Tim Ream, as well as Aleksandar Mitrovic's ongoing suspension, and struggled to really threaten the home side for much of the evening.
Liverpool are now just four points behind Manchester United, who sit fourth, but the Red Devils do still have two games in hand.
Having already won four games on the spin, Liverpool would have been confident heading into the encounter, but they had failed to keep a clean sheet in any of those victories, so it was no surprise Fulham had the first big opening of the game.
Virgil van Dijk was on hand to make a brilliant interception when Harry Wilson tried to find Carlos Vinicius who would have had a tap in, saving an almost certain goal.
Trent Alexander-Arnold then went close for the Reds, but Alisson was soon brought into action in the Liverpool goal, reaching at full stretch to keep out Vinicius's strike from the edge of the area.
The back and forth flow to the game continued as both Salah and Cedric Soares played threatening square balls, but on both occasions neither side could fashion a shooting opportunity.
The game's turning point came towards the end of the first half, when Issa Diop was far too casual when receiving a pass in his own box and swung a leg in front of an on-rushing Darwin Nunez, who tumbled over and won Liverpool a penalty.
Salah stepped up against Bernd Leno and, like against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, smashed the ball down the middle of the goal to open the scoring.
The second half was a little more frustrating for the hosts, as Fulham continued to offer a threat when they were adventurous enough to get bodies in Liverpool's defensive third.
Apart from an early second half opportunity for Salah, which he blazed over after Luis Diaz threaded through a nice pass, Liverpool did not create much else for the entire second period.
Fulham's big chance to draw level came in the final quarter of an hour, when Willian and Vinicius exchanged passes down the left, before the latter was denied by a strong hand from their Brazilian compatriot Alisson to maintain Liverpool's lead and clean sheet.
Inside additional time of the initial three minutes added on, Bobby Decordova-Reid flashed an effort over the bar when picked out centrally in the area, as Fulham's last chance went begging, with the score ending 1-0.
For Fulham this marks an eighth defeat from 10 games in all competitions, but Liverpool are flying, with a fifth consecutive victory.
The race for top four is still out of Liverpool hands, but this result will put the pressure on Man United, who face Brighton & Hove Albion tomorrow.
Liverpool welcome Brentford here to Anfield at the weekend as they continue an unlikely late-season surge for the Champions League places.
Fulham's season has petered out, but their fixture on Monday may have big implications in the relegation battle, as they host Leicester City.
Andrew Delaney
