Liverpool drop rare points, Southampton suffer earliest-ever relegation

LONDON (Agencies): Liverpool took a rare stumble in their march to the Premier League title with a 3-2 loss at Fulham on Sunday while Southampton suffered the earliest-ever relegation in league history when they lost 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw by Brentford in a blow to the Blues’ hunt for Champions League qualification. Fulham enjoyed a deserved win over Liverpool, capitalising on some dreadful defending to boost their push for European football next term. Liverpool, whose 26-game unbeaten run in the league ended with their second loss this season, remain top with 73 points from 31 games, 11 ahead of Arsenal, who drew 1-1 at Everton on Saturday. They need a maximum of 11 points from their remaining seven matches to win the title. Alexis Mac Allister gave the champions-elect an early lead before the Reds conceded three poor goals in 14 minutes. Ryan Sessegnon rifled home a superb first-time volley, after 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. Liverpool substitute Luis Diaz poked home with nearly 20 minutes to play but Fulham held on for the victory and moved up to eighth with 48 points. “Great win for us,” Fulham boss Marco Silva told Sky Sports. “Our first half was very, very good, in all aspects of the game.” Southampton’s loss to Spurs confirmed 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. “We knew it was probably going to be inevitable at some point, we haven’t been good enough all season… It is a sad day and one that this group of players will learn from,” Southampton keeper Aaron Ramsdale told Sky Sports. Spurs took the lead through Brennan Johnson and the Welsh winger doubled their advantage just before halftime with a neatly taken goal. Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes halved the deficit in the 90th minute 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. The result moved Spurs to 13th in the standings on 37 points. Chelsea extended their long run without a Premier League away win. Bryan Mbeumo drew a good save from Robert Sanchez and Sepp Van Den Berg headed over from close range in the final 10 minutes before Cole Palmer shot narrowly over with the last kick of the game. Chelsea have not won in the league away from Stamford Bridge since beating Spurs 4-3 in early December. They are fourth in the table, occupying the last of the guaranteed Champions League spots. Brentford, who have not won at home since early December, remained 12th. Manchester United were hosting crosstown rivals Manchester City in Sunday’s late game, while Newcastle United travel to Leicester City on Monday.