Jurgen Klopp revealed that Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson ‘was close to crying’ after the Reds kept a rare clean sheet in their 1-0 win over Fulham on Wednesday evening.

The Reds turned up the pressure on Manchester United with victory over the Cottagers moving them four points off fourth place as Mohamed Salah’s winner edged him even closer to a Steven Gerrard record.

There was none of the drama or histrionics of Sunday’s 4-3 win over Tottenham in bringing up a fifth successive Premier League victory for the first time since April last year.

Salah’s 39th-minute penalty, his second in successive games after back-to-back misses, took him to 185 goals for the club, one behind Gerrard, while also going fifth on the club’s list of all-time league scorers with 136.

And speaking after the game, Klopp admitted it was tough battle against a strong Fulham side, telling Premier League productions: “Very happy. Super strong opponent. I can’t respect any more what Marco [Silva] is doing there. I thought we controlled big parts of the game in the first half but in the second half it opened up. A really good team. It was tricky until the end. Five games in a row is good. I liked it a lot.

“They had a big chance so could have scored. We had moments in the first half we should have scored. That’s how it is. You have to create.

“I saw big fight, really good spirit and the boys who came on were flying into the challenges. Of course we can control the game in these moments better but we can improve. We have played much worse in the past.

“Alisson was close to crying with a clean sheet. It’s pretty rare for us this season! It’s very nice, especially for him.”

On building momentum as the season draws to a close, Klopp added: “Super important. That’s what I said. We have to try to do something we can use. Something we can build on in the next season. That’s exactly what we did and I’m pleased with that.”

Henderson still feels top-four chance has gone

Reds skipper Jordan Henderson echoed Klopp’s comments, adding: “It’s always difficult to win games in the Premier League. Five on the spin is very good. We’ve shown more consistency. We need to continue that until the end of the season and carry it on into next season too. A clean sheet is something we’ve been looking for.”

As for applying pressure on the top four, Henderson was just not so sure, adding: “I doubt it. I think if you look at who is ahead of us, they are very good and quite far ahead.

“I think we’re just thinking about us and our performance levels. Hopefully we can be a lot more consistent when we come back after the summer.”

The Reds are back in action on Saturday when they play host to Brentford.

READ MORE: James Milner Liverpool exit ‘all but done’ with veteran midfielder ‘blown away’ by next club

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