LONDON: 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. — Reuters
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