Mohamed Salah’s record-setting strike helped Liverpool overcome Brentford.
Salah put the hosts ahead on 13 minutes as he bundled home Virgil van Dijk’s header across the face of goal to score for a ninth consecutive home game.
The Reds moved to within a point of Manchester United in the battle for the final Champions League spot but their rivals have played two games fewer.
Here were the key talking points from Anfield:
All hail the Egyptian King
The Anfield crowd may not have been subservient to the royal coronation but they remain appreciative of a true footballing monarch in Mohamed Salah.
Another game and another set of impressive records for Liverpool’s no.11, who claimed four new milestones in addition to his 30th goal of the season.
Beyond reaching that landmark figure for a third straight running, he also became the club’s first-ever player to score in nine home games in succession.
Salah also equalled Roger Hunt and Fernando Torres in plundering for an eighth league game on the run in front of his adoring legions on The Kop.
Not content with that hat-trick, his 100th goal on home soil helped him draw level with Steven Gerrard as the club’s joint-fifth top scorer with 186 apiece.
Yet it is not simply the magnitude of Salah’s latest feats which set him apart from many of the great and good who previously graced the famous red shirt.
He emulated Gerrard in 408 games fewer and has shown astounding levels of fitness, featuring in 97% of Premier League and European games since 2017.
With no signs of slowing down even at the tail end of an imperfect season, Kopites would happily swear and oath to their ebullient Egyptian King.
Dare the Reds finally dream?
For now, Liverpool’s top four destiny is mathematically still in their hands.
This third home win in a week helped bridge the gap with Manchester United to a solitary point despite it likely to be widened by the end of this weekend.
But Jurgen Klopp’s side may finally dare to dream of overhauling their North West rivals’ two games in-hand to reclaim Champions League qualification.
Recent history appears to favour the Reds after they went on an impressive run of form towards the tail end of an otherwise dismal 2020/21 campaign.
From a position of also-rans, they managed to secure a credible third-place finish despite surrendering their maiden Premier League title alarmingly easily.
Alisson proved the unlikely hero for his oft-quoted winning goal at West Brom but it was his heroics at the other end against Brentford which are key now.
The Brazil international racked up his 100th clean sheet for Liverpool in all competitions, although the opposition did their utmost to lay siege to it.
On another day, Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo’s routine surges towards Alisson’s goalmouth might have resulted in him picking the ball out of the net.
But Lady Luck appears to be smiling on Liverpool again to the point that you would not discount them toasting another return to Europe’s elite on May 28.
Anthem stand-off entirely predictable
The reaction to a Premier League-mandated decision to play the national anthem before kick-off was as inevitable as Salah later hitting the target.
Anyone with an ounce of common sense could have foreseen the inevitable cacophony that drowned out Anfield’s rendition of ‘God Save The King’.
Ultimately, it was a move which left Liverpool in a truly unwinnable situation; they were damned if they did play it and equally damned if they didn’t.
Choosing the former was caveated by a public acknowledgement of the clear depth of feeling towards the establishment from within the club’s fanbase.
Supporters were also under no obligation to stand silently or even parrot the lyrics. In truth, they were never going to accede to that potential request.
This was not the first time the national anthem has been barracked on Merseyside this season; Everton’s fans were similarly forthright against West Ham.
Still, events of the pre-match pantomime were entirely avoidable. Even those issuing the incendiary decree from ivory towers knew what would happen.