Liverpool’s title procession put on hold by Fulham blitz

London — Fulham put Liverpool’s procession towards the Premier League title on pause with a deserved 3-2 win on Sunday, capitalising on dreadful defending to boost their push for European football next term.

Alexis MacAllister gave the champions-elect an early lead after Liverpool were arguably fortunate to not concede a penalty, but that was as good as it got for the Reds, who then shipped three poor goals in 14 minutes.

Ryan Sessegnon rifled home a superb first-time volley, after stand-in right-back Curtis Jones failed to clear a cross, before a series of mistakes from Andy Robertson let Alex Iwobi score.

Rodrigo Muniz completed the turnaround, winning a second ball with a lovely first touch ahead of Virgil van Dijk then producing a sublime finish through Caoimhin Kelleher’s legs.

Conor Bradley set up a nervy finish when he played in fellow substitute Luis Diaz to poke home with nearly 20 minutes to play, but Fulham held on for the three points.

Liverpool remain top with 73 points from 31 games, 11 ahead of Arsenal. They need a maximum of 11 points from their remaining seven matches to win the title and, while that remains a virtual certainty, their form will concern boss Arne Slot.

Fulham moved up to eighth with 48 points, three behind Manchester City in fifth, a spot likely to be enough to secure a Champions League place next term.

Liverpool came into the game with one hand on the Premier League trophy but started poorly and could have given up the opener inside five minutes when Ibrahima Konate dawdled in his own box and was dispossessed by Andreas Pereira.

Pereira tried to feed Muniz, with Kelleher taking down Pereira as Van Dijk clattered Muniz to the floor, but referee Chris Kavanagh waved away Fulham’s protests.

Liverpool then took the lead through MacAllister, who shrugged off a weak challenge from Sander Berge and had time to pick his spot from 25m. But Fulham drew level in the 23rd minute through academy product Sessegnon, who met Jones’ skewed clearance with an unstoppable finish.

Robertson then had a shocker, giving the ball to Iwobi whose shot was blocked and then headed back to him by Robertson, who deflected Iwobi’s effort past Kelleher in the 32nd minute.

Muniz doubled the lead five minutes later when he plucked the ball out of the air with a fantastic touch matched by a clinical finish to stun the league leaders.

Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw by their west London neighbours Brentford on Sunday, dealing a blow to the Blues in their hunt for a top-four finish that would guarantee them a spot in next season’s Champions League.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca made five changes to the team that beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Thursday with strikers Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto coming on only as second-half substitutes Their introduction gave Chelsea more bite in attack after a flat first 45 minutes but they failed to really test Mark Flekken in the Brentford goal.

Bryan Mbeumo and Sepp van den Berg came close for the hosts late on.

Southampton suffered the earliest relegation in Premier League history when they lost 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur, confirming their demotion to the second tier despite having seven games left in the season.

Southampton had needed a victory to stay alive in their fight for survival after 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers moved up to 32 points with Saturday’s comeback win at Ipswich Town. But the south-coast club have only 10 points after 31 games to sit rock bottom and 22 points from the safety zone.

Spurs took the lead through Brennan Johnson after Saints had a shot blocked at the other end and the Welsh winger doubled their advantage just before halftime with a neatly taken goal.

Southampton did not threaten the Spurs goal until the 90th minute when Mateus Fernandes halved the deficit but any hopes of a comeback were extinguished when they conceded a penalty and Mathys Tel converted the spot kick to seal the three points.

Reuters