Adam Lallana netted a last-gasp winner to earn Liverpool a dramatic 5-4 victory in a breathtaking encounter against Norwich at Carrow Road.
The hosts had overcome Roberto Firmino’s early opener to hold a 3-1 lead in East Anglia through goals from Dieumerci Mbokani, debutant Steven Naismith and a Wes Hoolahan penalty – all aided by some suspect Liverpool defending.
However, Jordan Henderson started the comeback with a well-taken goal just one minute after Hoolahan’s spot-kick, before Firmino equalised with a lovely dinked finished.
And Liverpool weren’t done there, as Milner latched on to Russell Martin’s awful backpass to fire past Declan Rudd in the Norwich goal to put the Reds back in front.
Sebastien Bassong looked to have earned the Canaries a point in injury time, but straight down the other end, Lallana converted after Norwich failed to clear to snatch the win in the most dramatic of circumstances – instigating scenes of jubilation from Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool bench, with the ecstatic German losing in glasses in the melee.
This is only the third time in Premier League history that Liverpool have recovered from two goals down to win an away game, securing a vital three points which sees Liverpool move up to seventh, five points off the top four, while Norwich’s relegation fears increase after a game they should have taken something from.
The visitors started in the ascendancy with air of a side that knew they had to improve after picking up just one point in their last three league matches, and it wasn’t long before Firmino had broken the deadlock with his fourth for the club.
Milner held the ball up well, delayed long enough for Firmino to make his run, played him in, and Firmino converted, via the left foot of Rudd.
Milner himself almost got on the scoresheet as he raced clear through the heart of a vulnerable-looking Norwich backline, but he was dispossessed at the last by Robbie Brady.
Liverpool were then made to pay for that miss, as Mbokani cleverly back-heeled past Simon Mignolet after the Reds passed up several chances to clear a corner.
The game swung completely in the hosts favour when former Everton forward Naismith fired home on his Norwich debut, but Mignolet may be unhappy with his contribution, having been beaten from a very tight angle. Nevertheless, the football to set up Naismith was pinpoint as he burst into the box.
After the break, the drama intensified. The hosts put daylight between them and Liverpool through Hoolahan’s audacious penalty, but Alberto Moreno’s challenge that conceded the spot-kick was reckless, and totally unnecessary.
With the home fans still taking their seats after celebrating their side’s third, Henderson arrived to put his side back in the contest, but he was allowed far too much time to convert from the edge of the box from Firmino’s flick.
There was nothing the hosts could do about the next equaliser, with Liverpool showing their class in creating the opportunity for Firmino to delicately loft the ball over the onrushing Rudd, after great work from Lallana to pick him out.
The goals continued to flow, though, as Norwich grabbed what looked like a vital point in their fight for survival through Bassong in stoppage time.
Again Liverpool had ample opportunity to get the ball upfield, but they couldn’t clear their lines as Norwich pressed, with the ball falling to Bassong on the edge of the box, and the centre-back fired past Mignolet in a manner any striker would have been proud of.
However, in a game that refused to relent, Lallana capitalised on more poor defending from Norwich as they themselves failed to clear a long ball into the box, and fired past a static Rudd to stun Carrow Road, and send the travelling fans, and Klopp, into raptures.
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