NOT since February 8 have Liverpool topped the Premier League. After 90 minutes it looked as if they would do so only by goal difference, leaving Manchester United with two games in hand. Then, substitute Yossi Benayoun gathered the ball in the penalty area, sped around the slipping Paul Konchesky and shot past Mark Schwarzer, breaking Fulham’s resistance and adding a little spice into the title race.

Poor Fulham, who came within seconds of thwarting another Top Four side. They defended stoutly, rode their luck after Liverpool had hit the woodwork four times in the first period but come May — come tomorrow in fact — only the scoreline will remain.

These are peculiar times at Anfield. Even a quiet international week had its moments of joy, moments of impending doom and moments of promise. Joy in Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt signing contract extensions; impending murky doom in owner Tom Hicks failing to make an interest payment on $529m worth of loans and the promise of instant gratification occasioned by a combination of United’s mini-blip and Aston Villa travelling to Old Trafford today meaning a draw would have returned Liverpool to the summit.

Usually one for the bigger picture, Rafael Benitez kept a weather eye on Chelsea’s Champions League visit on Wednesday, kept his priorities focused and kept his powder dry. Thus he offered a rare start to the Argentina full-back Emiliano Insua, another chance for the misfiring Lucas Leiva and left Javier Mascherano, Benayoun and Albert Riera sunning themselves on the bench.

April is traditionally the month Fulham start working out which snookers they require to avoid demotion. Not this year. Instead, they kicked off with the wind in their sails, looking for a fourth successive victory and whispering quietly of a possible Eurojaunt next season. Naturally they were unchanged after romping past Manchester United a fortnight ago, even though Mark Schwarzer and Clint Dempsey only returned to London on Friday after helping Australia and the United States respectively to World Cup qualifying wins.

In theory both teams had much to play for and, hallelujah, they played like it in practice. First, Fulham hitched up their footballing skirts and showed off their aesthetic appeal. If Dempsey was exhausted, he disguised it well,hurtling down the left and past Alvaro Arbeloa twice in the first five minutes, forcing the Liverpool defence into panic mode.

Liverpool were in no mood to watch admiringly and until the break, that was as good as it got for Fulham. Nine minutes in, they discovered Schwarzer’s travels had not dulled his reactions when he tipped over Andrea Dossena’s gorgeous chip after a fabulous Fernando Torres reverse ball. Moments later Schwarzer had fortune on his side when Martin Skrtel, a 21st Century Larry Lloyd, lumbered forwards for a corner and crashed his shot onto the bar, via Dossena’s head.

After such early high-jinks, both teams took stock and some sort of shape began to emerge. Liverpool, all imperious hauteur, had learnt from Manchester United’s mistakes in SW6. They withdrew Xabi Alonso to chaperone the back four and looked to slow proceedings down and pick off their hosts. Not though, to suggest that they were lackadaisical. Far from it: for they were in absolute control and Gerrard, their fulcrum, their heartbeat and their inspiration, was at the heart of almost all their best work.

Soon, Schwarzer was finger-tipping Torres’s low shot away after Gerrard’s cute pass had again exposed the lack of pace at the centre of Fulham’s defence. Fulham had wanted to play at the blitzkrieg pace that had so startled Manchester United. In midfield, Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu were as eager as ever, but Simon Davies rarely made his way on to the wing, where he might have tested Insua, and Dempsey drifted infield to let Arbeloa off the hook.

And so, forced to compete on Liverpool’s terms, Fulham struggled horribly and before half-time gave the home side respite, Liverpool would rattle Schwarzer’s woodwork three more times. Just after the half-hour point Alonso belted a 25-yard howitzer on to the bar following Gerrard’s corner. Before we could draw breath, Gerrard and Torres had combined exquisitely in midfield for the Spaniard to run on, round Schwarzer and roll what seemed certain to be the opener against the post. Another breath, another Liverpool attack and a fourth great escape for Fulham. This time Gerrard crossed from the right and the unmarked Dossena displayed the finishing of a converted left-back to head against the bar from six yards.

Having done everything but score in the first half, Liverpool continued in similar vein in the second. Torres placed a free header into Schwarzer’s midriff after Insua had gambolled forwards to cross, while further half-chances fell to Alonso and Kuyt. Soon even Gerrard was frustrated to the point of hurling a stream of invective at a passing assistant referee. As floodlights replaced sunlight, Liverpool turned the screw once more.

There were moments of penalty area ping-pong, moments of desperation and a moment when Benayoun blasted into the side-netting. Liverpool looked to be denied. The Israeli, though, had only just begun.

FULHAM Schwarzer 6, Pantsil 5, Hughes 5, Hangeland 5, Konchesky 5, Davies 6 (Gera 79min), Etuhu 6, Murphy 6 (Dacourt 76min), Dempsey 6, Zamora 5, Johnson 6

LIVERPOOL: Reina 6, Arbeloa 5, Skrtel 5, Carragher 6, Insua 6, Alonso 7, Gerrard 8 (Agger 90min), Lucas 5, Dossena 6 (Babel 65min), Kuyt 6 (Benayoun 76min), Torres 7