Match reportLiverpool beaten at Fulham to suffer second defeat of Premier League season

Alexis Mac Allister's stunning goal had given the Reds the lead inside the opening quarter of an hour but Fulham fought back in the remainder of the half to go 3-1 ahead at Craven Cottage.

After Ryan Sessegnon equalised in minute 23, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz struck in quick succession to put the Cottagers in control.

Luis Diaz's second-half finish provided hope for the league leaders but they would end up losing on their travels for the first time in the top flight this term.

Arne Slot's men hold an 11-point lead at the summit with seven matches remaining.

Team

There was one alteration to the line-up that defeated Everton in midweek, with Cody Gakpo replacing Diaz.

Conor Bradley took a place on the bench as he returned to the matchday squad for the first time in nearly two months following his muscle injury.

Liverpool: Kelleher, Van Dijk, Konate (Bradley, 67), Szoboszlai (Elliott, 55), Mac Allister, Salah, Jones, Gakpo (Diaz, 55), Jota (Nunez, 67), Robertson (Chiesa, 86), Gravenberch.

Unused subs: Jaros, Endo, Tsimikas, Quansah.

First half

In the springtime sunshine, Liverpool survived an early scare prior to Mac Allister opening the scoring.

Ibrahima Konate was dispossessed inside his penalty area by Andreas Pereira, who then failed to link up with Muniz with a square pass that would have allowed the forward a tap-in.

Mac Allister's strike from all of 20 yards out flew past the diving Bernd Leno after he successfully held off a challenge from Sander Berge.

The midfielder had beaten Iwobi to a loose ball inside the Fulham half and the space ahead invited him to drive towards goal before taking aim.

That moment only gave the Reds a 1-0 lead for just nine minutes, however.

Pereira's cross from the right was half-cleared back into a threatening area and Sessegnon pounced to fire a first-time shot past Caoimhin Kelleher.

Two goals in a five-minute spell then had the hosts 3-1 up.

For their second of the afternoon, Iwobi cut out Andy Robertson's pass across his own box and the Fulham man's eventual strike at goal took a nick off the left-back to wrong-foot Kelleher.

Diogo Jota was denied at close range up at the other end, while another Fulham attack saw Kelleher push behind a curler from Iwobi.

Liverpool cleared the resulting corner but Iwobi's ballooned effort in the aftermath was brought down by Muniz with a touch that sent him through on goal, and he made no mistake with the finish.

Second half

There was a frantic pace to the game after the interval, with the sides trading chances to alter the scoreline.

Jota was denied by Leno in a one-v-one and Robertson drove fractionally over the crossbar, while a Sessegnon attempt was not far from creeping in at the near post.

Slot made a double change 10 minutes into the period and one of them, Diaz, sent in a delicious cross that Mohamed Salah met on the half-volley but could not keep his effort down.

The head coach opted for more moves off the bench a short while later, handing Bradley a return to action. The full-back involved himself quickly to give his team hope of salvaging something.

Bradley picked up the ball on an underlapping run and slipped a pass into the path of Diaz, whose touch sent him into the area and then allowed him to poke beyond Leno.

The crossbar stopped Liverpool from drawing level seven minutes after Diaz's goal. Robertson's low delivery made its way through the box and into the right channel, where Harvey Elliott picked it up and attempted to bend the ball into the far corner.

Kelleher kept the visitors in the contest with a terrific save from Harrison Reed but they were unable to find the equaliser, with Federico Chiesa and Elliott coming closest in added time.