Liverpool make hard work of victory over struggling Fulham

Liverpool's Sadio Mane – REUTERS

REUTERS: Goals by Mo Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri took Liverpool from third place to the top of the Premier League for a couple of hours at least with a 2-0 victory over bottom club Fulham at Anfield on Sunday. 

They moved above the other two unbeaten teams, Manchester City and Chelsea, who were both playing home games later on Sunday. 

Juergen Klopp’s side made hard work of it for 40 minutes, however, and could easily have fallen behind. 

Just before halftime the visitors’ Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic had a headed goal disallowed for offside by the closest of margins. 

Liverpool immediately counter-attacked and Salah went clear to open the scoring. 

Shaqiri’s side-footed volley after 53 minutes doubled the lead, pushing Fulham towards a sixth successive Premier League defeat, which equals a club record.