WE’RE NOT GOING AWAY Klopp’s warriors warn Pep they will take City title fight all the way

Chokers? Not on this showing as gritty Liverpool overcome a dodgy opener to send a defiant message to City

JURGEN KLOPP warned title rivals Manchester City: “We’re not going anywhere.” Liverpool responded to a controversial Burnley opener to seal a win that took them a point behind the leaders and Klopp said: “Nobody

WHEN a freaky and strictly illegal goal went against them early doors, they could have choked.

When an added-time strike out of the blue reduced their lead to the slimmest of margins, they could have bottled it.

When Jurgen Klopp’s old chum, the wind, did its work with a vengeance, they could have lost their rhythm.

Instead, the chasers kept their composure, responded to the pressure with professional excellence.

It was never a breeze but it was the sort of riposte that should at least send a draught of pressure down the road to Manchester.

Forget the chat about tightening nerves on Merseyside, this is a team that is taking the title race down to the May wire.

And with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane dividing the spoils of four – and Mohamed Salah a persistent danger – it was a reminder that this attacking triumvirate is capable of leading Liverpool to ultimate success.

For the slightly unexpected bonus, look no further than the effervescent contribution of Adam

Lallana, who will now play a key part in the eight-game finale.

Even though they conceded their first Premier League goals in a month, the defensive unit was also reassuringly solid.

Ashley Westwood’s opener – direct from a corner – can be excused as James Tarkowski was saddling up Kop keeper Alisson at the time.

Sub Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s late hit was decent and the product of one of the rare moments of defensive uncertainty.

In the vast expanse of time between the two Burnley successes, Liverpool were generally dominant.

Granted, they had some assistance from uncharacteristically shoddy rearguard work from Sean Dyche’s team, and from goalkeeper Tom Heaton, in particular.

First, he somehow failed to deal adequately with a Salah cross from the right that eventually reached Firmino in formality territory for the equaliser.

And then, after having no chance with Mane’s super-confident finish when Charlie Taylor’s challenge on Salah spat the ball into the Senegalese striker’s path, Heaton was culpable for Liverpool’s third in the second half. Clearly not a graduate of the Ederson/ Alisson school of distribution, Heaton hooked a kick straight to Salah and, when Taylor again intervened, the outcome was familiar.

The ball fell to Firmino who finished with the outside of the right boot and an outsized smile.

It actually was a breeze at that point but Gudmundsson’s cameo from the bench changed that for a moment or two in the closing stages.

It was only a moment or two, mind, because Daniel Sturridge soon persuaded a cute pass ahead of Mane and he collected his second after going around a frazzled Heaton.

Cue the customary Klopp frenzy. He might protest that the expectation and pressure is not getting to him personally but he seemed particularly fraught at times here.

Heaven knows what his mood must