Mohamed Salah’s last-gasp penalty earns Liverpool win over battling Burnley
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Their three previous wins had been decided by goals in the 83rd minute or later and that pattern continued at Turf Moor to deny the home side a deserved point.
The Reds had looked like dropping their first points of the season in a game which was crying out for the cutting edge of absent British record signing Alexander Isak.
The £125million deadline-day arrival from Newcastle was left out of the squad, having only played 18 minutes of football for Sweden as his dispute with the Magpies denied him a pre-season and playing time.
Head coach Arne Slot said he would be involved for Wednesday’s Champions League match at home to Atletico Madrid, but his predatory instincts would not have gone amiss against stubborn opposition who built a successful promotion campaign on not conceding goals.
Even the late sending-off of Lesley Ugochukwu for a second bookable offence did not destabilise the hosts’ resolve, but they eventually cracked when Jeremie Frimpong’s cross hit the arm of Hannibal Mejbri.
Salah, after missing his two previous attempts from the spot, moved past Andy Cole into fourth on the all-time Premier League goal-scorers list with 188, while also becoming Liverpool’s record league penalty scorer with 35, surpassing Billy Liddell.
Burnley made it hard work for them, restricting their opponents to just four shots on target from 27 attempts, but in the end they could not dent the top flight’s only remaining 100 per cent record as Liverpool moved three points clear of Arsenal at the top again.
The hosts’ 5-4-1 from the off left the visitors in no doubt about the task which awaited them, but in the first half in particular Slot’s side were well short of the expected standard.
Centre-back Ibrahima Konate headed over from close range and Hugo Ekitike flicked a shot wide of the far post from a narrow angle having skipped past Josh Laurent, but the one shot on target they managed came from Andy Robertson soon after he had replaced Milos Kerkez just before the interval.
The Hungary international had embarrassed himself by being booked for diving for a penalty after being brushed by Laurent and Slot removed him from the fray after another foul as last man to avoid the decision being taken out of his hands.
Burnley fans celebrated that Kerkez foul, plus another by Salah seconds earlier, with almost as much gusto as a goal as they appreciated the importance of winning the small battles.
Defensive resilience is nothing new for Scott Parker’s side, who conceded only 16 goals on their way to winning promotion, but the level of concentration and organisation required against the Premier League champions was altogether higher.
Particularly in the second half when it seemed to be virtually one-way traffic, with Liverpool effectively camped 35 yards from the hosts’ goal.
Alexis MacAllister failed to appear after the break as a result of a strong challenge which earned Ugochukwu his first booking and Conor Bradley’s arrival freed midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai from right-back and he forced the first genuine save from Martin Dubravka.
Prior to that Ryan Gravenberch had volleyed over and Florian Wirtz’s fast feet in a crowded penalty area opened space for him to squeeze a shot wide, while afterwards Robertson headed wide, as did Federico Chiesa with his first touch after replacing Ekitike.
Frimpong, on as a forward, was denied by Dubravka at his near post before his most significant contribution to date since his summer move contributed to a fourth successive win.