Liverpool recorded their fourth straight victory in the Premier League with a 1-0 win at Burnley on Sunday.
The Reds edged a tight contest at Turf Moor thanks to a first-half goal from Fabinho with the Brazilian poking the ball home from close range from a corner.
Jurgen Klopp opted to start his renowned trio of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, with Diogo Jota coming off the bench, while new signing Luis Diaz was an unused substitute.
Victory for Liverpool leaves them nine points behind leaders Manchester City with a game in hand.
Plenty of national media outlets were in attendance to watch the win - and here is a round-up of what they had to say.
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Carl Markham, via The Independent
“Fabinho’s fifth goal in eight matches helped Liverpool grind out a 1-0 victory over Burnley in testing conditions to maintain their pursuit of Manchester City.
“With rain seemingly blowing around Turf Moor in three different directions at the same time, the conditions seemed ideal for an upset – one Jurgen Klopp’s side could ill afford, starting the game 12 points off the leaders.
“But even though the visitors reunited their famed original front three of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino for the first time since the end of October, it was their new-found goalscoring midfielder who made the breakthrough.
“Since the turn of the year, no team-mate has scored more than Brazil international Fabinho, whose primary role of anchoring the midfield was also performed superbly in a scrappy contest which saw a number of players struggle.”
Richard Jolly, via The Guardian
“In a year when Jürgen Klopp has spent £50m on a forward, Liverpool seem to have gained a prolific scorer. Not Luis Díaz – or not yet, anyway – but Fabinho. Klopp’s title hopes may be faint but they could have been extinguished without his newly potent holding midfielder. Fabinho’s fifth goal of 2022 reduced the gap to Manchester City to nine points; had it not been scored by the man who shields the back four, the temptation would have been to call it a poacher’s strike, scrambled in from half a yard and showing a predatory instinct associated more with strikers.
“The importance of a clinical touch was underlined as Burnley lacked one. Their last 851 minutes of top-flight football have yielded them a mere three goals, just as they have a solitary league win here in more than a year.
“One unwanted statistic ought to have changed and another could have done courtesy of a first half when they had the superior chances. And yet, thanks to Fabinho, Burnley went in with a deficit. Unlike against Manchester United last Tuesday, there was no comeback. Seven points from safety, their local derbies next season are likelier to involve Wigan and Blackpool than Liverpool and United.
“For Liverpool, however, it was the definition of a hard-fought win. Troubled initially, and unconvincing before the interval, they played with greater authority after Fabinho struck. Virgil van Dijk eventually looked unruffled in the Burnley gales. Others dug in. ‘We made our shirts dirty,’ Klopp grinned.”
*RATE THE LIVERPOOL PLAYERS FOR THE WIN OVER BURNLEY:
Ian Whittell, via The Times
“Liverpool moved back to within nine points of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League but it was a close-run thing as struggling Burnley squandered numerous chances of an upset.
“Jürgen Klopp’s side hold a slim chance of hauling in Pep Guardiola’s City side given that they have one game in hand on the league leaders and will visit the Etihad on April 9.
“There is certainly no questioning the attitude and spirit of Klopp’s side, who negotiated a tough visit to Turf Moor on a wet and windy afternoon when Burnley posed a threat throughout.
“Fabinho broke the deadlock five minutes before the interval, his fifth goal in his past seven games. Burnley did, however, create their fair share of chances — Wout Weghorst with the best opportunity — in an entertaining first half.
“The goal came from a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner. The right back’s inswinging corner was helped towards goal by Sadio Mané, back in the side after his success with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, before Fabinho, having forced a save from Nick Pope, smashed the rebound home from about two yards.”
Mark Ogden, via ESPN
“It's often true that the scruffy, forgettable wins make all the difference in a title race, those days when the big stars don't claim the headlines and the crucial contributions are left to the players who often miss out on the plaudits. If Liverpool are somehow able to overtake Manchester City and win the 2021-22 Premier League, this 1-0 victory at Burnley will tick all over those boxes.
“English football has always taken pride in its boast that the Premier League title race is a marathon rather than a sprint, and is a test of quality and endurance that demands teams perform in all conditions from August through to May. To that point, a trip to Burnley in February, when the rain is almost horizontal and the flag on the roof of the Main Stand is pulled in all directions by a howling wind, is as much a test of character as facing Sean Dyche's battling but relegation-threatened side.
“Fortunately for Liverpool, who moved to within nine points of City having played one game fewer than Pep Guardiola's champions, when everything was stripped back at Turf Moor, the powerhouse midfield axis of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson drove them on to the victory when their usual match-winners were nowhere to be seen.
“Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were as good as anonymous up front, with the only significant contribution from the three forwards being Mane's header from Trent Alexander-Arnold's 40th minute corner that fell into the path of Fabinho, who scored his fifth goal in seven games from close range. At the back, Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip were uncharacteristically shaky having been repeatedly knocked off their stride by the pace and movement of Jay Rodriguez, and the physical awkwardness of 6-foot-6 centre-forward Wout Weghorst.”
