Player of the year candidate Alexis Mac Allister's piledriver was reminiscent of Vincent Kompany's title-deciding rocket, writes LEWIS STEELE as Liverpool leave it late to beat Sheffield United 3-1

If Liverpool’s first goal was a seismic slice of luck, bouncing in off the backside of Darwin Nunez, their second was a potential season award-winner from the man of the moment on Merseyside and player of the year candidate: Alexis Mac Allister.

Everything the Argentine touches turns to gold at the moment, with this the sixth straight game in which the World Cup winner has scored a goal or come up with a match-winning assist. None of those previous moments were more of a clutch move than this, though.

As the clock inside a nervy Anfield ticked towards the final 10 minutes, Sheffield United were defending like their lives depended on it and answering every question thrown their way from a sub-par Liverpool side, who were set to cede pole position in this thrilling three-team title race.

But the best teams always find a way. There are still 24 points to play for after this match but the piledriver from Mac Allister was reminiscent of Vincent Kompany’s rocket strike for Manchester City against Leicester in 2019, which tipped the title away from Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were dominant but left the door ajar to what would have been the upset of the Premier League season, as 20th-placed Sheffield United deserved a mountain of credit for a courageous, organised defensive display.

It was the sort of performance that made it seem baffling that Blades had conceded 77 goals and accrued just 15 points all season before this match. 

Chris Wilder’s side are all but certainly going down, but this proved their demise will not be without a fight.

As for Liverpool, this was far from their best. Nunez’s opener was a slice of luck after a calamity blooper from the away goalkeeper and their finishing was far from polished. 

But as they have done all year, they found a way to win, with Cody Gakpo sealing the points in the 90th minute.

Even the most optimistic observers in north London and Manchester would have had slim hopes for rock-bottom Sheffield United doing them a favour in a helter-skelter title race. 

But rival fans would have leapt off the sofa just 40 seconds into this game as Blades fluffed a golden chance.

It was a storyline waiting to happen as Manchester City loanee James McAtee, the 21-year-old once described as a ‘David Silva clone’, ghosted into a pocket of space at the back post after a long throw. But his shot from point-blank range was stopped by Caoimhin Kelleher.

The Irish keeper had a quiet first half thereafter, though, as Blades were prohibited from springing forward due to Liverpool’s dominance. 

United’s deep five-man defence limited space for the Reds, with Mohamed Salah, Nunez and Joe Gomez all limited to long shots only.

Wilder barked orders from the touchline and would have been pleased with his side’s stoic defending in the opening exchanges but that strong start was all undone by a comical error from keeper Ivo Grbic when an attempted long ball smashed into Nunez and bounced into the goal.

It had shades of Loris Karius in the 2018 Champions League final and Liverpool fans in Kyiv that night will recall the look of gloom on their keeper’s face as if he wanted the ground below to swallow him. It felt the same for poor Grbic here, the sort of bad luck you get at the bottom.

But it was a slice of good fortune that led to Blades pulling level just before the hour mark when Gustavo Hamer’s header at the back post deflected in off Conor Bradley. Nothing lucky about the move in general though, a sweeping counter-attack led by McAtee’s barnstorming run.

The Reds were caught napping and punished for not putting away earlier chances. And so a wave of frustration and anxiety soon swept across Anfield. 

Grbic atoned for his earlier error with several big stops, most notably to turn a Virgil van Dijk header around the post. 

Andy Robertson was next to see a chance go begging as a beautiful cross from fellow substitute Harvey Elliott picked out the Scotsman but his volley was fired narrowly wide. 

Then Mac Allister popped up with a thunderbolt as the ball set up for him on the edge of the penalty area.

The Argentine was not as influential as he has been in recent weeks - he was playing in a deeper position here due to Wataru Endo’s injury - but he came up with the decisive moment again. Gakpo came off the bench to confirm another victory with a late header.