Mac Allister’s thunderbolt sinks Sheffield United and puts Liverpool top
For a fraught second-half spell at Anfield Sheffield United were level and Liverpool were in peril of a most unexpected slip-up. Step forward Alexis Mac Allister. The World Cup winner restored Jürgen Klopp’s team to the Premier League summit with an exquisite strike as Liverpool yet again held their nerve and their slender command of the title race.
With Gary McAllister appropriately looking on, the Liverpool midfielder settled Anfield’s anxieties after a Conor Bradley own goal had cancelled out Darwin Núñez’s first-half fluke and given Arsenal and Manchester City hope of a shock point for Chris Wilder’s battling side. Mac Allister has now been involved in a Liverpool goal in the last six matches, scoring three and delivering four assists as he steps up to the pressure of winning a Premier League title. Cody Gakpo provided the comfort of a third in the final minute – the 80th goal that United have conceded this season – but this was far from the cruise that many anticipated between the league’s top and bottom clubs.
