A lucky Henderson strike

Jordan Henderson's fortuitous goal earned Liverpool a 1-0 win at Swansea on Monday as they moved within two points of fourth-placed Manchester United ahead of an eagerly-anticipated showdown against their bitter rivals.

Henderson scored for a third successive Premier League game to make it five successive top-flight victories for Brendan Rodgers' team as their charge for the Champions League continues to gather pace.

Yet there was more than a stroke of luck about Henderson's second-half winner after Swansea defender Jordi Amat's attempted clearance ricocheted off the onrushing Liverpool midfielder and looped over goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

That will be of little concern to Liverpool's former Swansea manager Rodgers on what was a happy return to the Liberty Stadium that means his team can leapfrog old foes United should they defeat them at Anfield on Sunday.

They certainly have momentum following what has been a remarkable turnaround in recent months following a sluggish start and that this was a sixth successive away clean sheet for the first time since 1972 merely added gloss.

The result was harsh on a Swansea side who had already defeated Arsenal and United at home this term, yet they were ultimately left to rue a series of first-half missed chances.

There was no place for Mario Balotelli in the Liverpool squad due to illness, while Steven Gerrard - available for the first time since February 10 following a hamstring problem - had to settle for coming on as a second-half substitute.

One player who did make the starting line-ups, however, was Swansea forward Bafetimbi Gomis, who was declared fit 12 days after collapsing on the pitch during the loss at Tottenham.

The France international showed no signs of any ill-affects from his recent scare and he was denied a 21st-minute opener when he headed Wayne Routledge's cross goalwards only for Martin Skrtel to clear off the line.

Another typically slick Swans move soon followed with Ki Sung-yueng's raking ball out wide to Neil Taylor controlled superbly by the left-back as he got the better of Emre Can.

Taylor fed the ball inside to Gylfi Sigurdsson who, with back to goal, rolled former Swansea star Joe Allen with a sharp turn only to bend his shot beyond the right-angle of the post.

The midfielder found that very corner perfectly minutes later with a brilliant instinctive effort which Simon Mignolet, at full stretch, superbly tipped around his post.

The danger was far from averted, though, as Jonjo Shelvey was picked out from a short-corner routine and, connecting cleanly with his first-time strike, he looked set to be celebrating against his former club until his shot inadvertently deflected off Adam Lallana and away for another corner.