The on-form Sadio Mane put the visitors in front midway through the first half, but a rare defensive mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker allowed Ryan Babel to give his former club a huge scare 16 minutes from time.

Fulham’s awful defending all season is the reason they are heading back to the Championship after just one season back in the top flight, and the hosts gave Jurgen Klopp’s men a much-needed gift when goalkeeper Sergio Rico bundled over Mane and Milner secured all three points from the spot.

Liverpool now hold a two-point lead over City, but the champions have a game in hand.

“Average game, sensational result,” said Klopp of his side’s performance.

“City don’t look like they will drop a lot of points, so we have to win and win and win. That’s our job to do.”

Liverpool completed a clean sweep of four English sides into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a highly impressive 3-1 win at Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

But they nearly suffered a very costly European hangover against a Fulham side still 13 points adrift of safety.

“We had to run a lot in a week where we ran a lot,” added Klopp to justify an at times lacklustre display at such a pivotal stage of the season.

Most of the visitors’ attacking threat came down their left side through Mane and the Senegalese proved the source of the breakthrough on 26 minutes.

Mane scored twice in Munich in midweek and took his hot streak to 11 goals in 11 games with a simple finish after exchanging passes with Roberto Firmino.

– No excuses –

Liverpool started the second half with greater intent to try and put the game to bed.

Andy Robertson was the provider as Georginio Wijnaldum headed a good opportunity over at the far post before Rico was called into action to deny Van Dijk.

However, as a torrential rain shower swept over the banks of the Thames to make playing conditions hazardous, Liverpool‘s slender lead proved a dangerous one.

Floyd Ayite was rightly flagged offside as he headed a deflected shot past Alisson before the Brazilian number one got down well to save from Andre Zambo Anguissa.

Mane was inches away from securing the points and doubling his tally for the day with a deft header from a corner that clipped the top of the crossbar.

Disaster seemed to have struck for Liverpool when Van Dijk’s header back towards Alisson didn’t have enough purchase and Babel stepped in with the break of the ball to tap into an empty net.

“I am not giving excuses. I should have handled it better,” admitted Van Dijk.

However, the league leaders showed why they are in the running to end a 29-year title drought to get a vital three points with the help of some erratic goalkeeping from Rico.

“I saw the reaction of my players and I’m really pleased with that,” added Klopp. “After the equaliser we were much clearer than before the equaliser.”

Mohamed Salah’s goal drought continued as the Egyptian has scored just once now in his last 10 games, but it was his shot that Rico spilled before the Spaniard unnecessarily pulled down Mane.

Milner took responsibility instead of Salah from the penalty spot and calmly sent Rico the wrong way to restore Liverpool‘s lead, which this time they never looked like letting go.

The five-time world champion started from pole at the season-opening race but was pipped at turn 1 by the Finn and was never in contention as he quickly pulled away to beat the Briton by almost 21 seconds.

To rub salt in his wounds, Bottas also picked up an extra point for the fastest lap.

Hamilton, who was quickest in all three practice sessions and during qualifying, was gracious in defeat, but also struggling to know what went wrong.

“I had a pretty straightforward race today; I lost position at the start and my race was pretty much done and dusted after the first corner,” he said.

“Afterwards it was really about bringing the car home and bagging the points.

“I had to pit early to cover the pit stop from Ferrari, so I had a long second stint and drove super carefully to make sure I had tyres left at the end of the race.”

Autosport.com said Mercedes had discovered damage to the floor of Hamilton’s car following post-race checks, possibly caused by hitting debris or running across a kerb.

Team chief Toto Wolff had no immediate answers.

“For Lewis, it was a harder afternoon — the start was not as good as Valtteri, then we had to pit him earlier than ideal to cover the risk of being undercut by (Sebastian) Vettel,” he said.

“That gave him a long stint on the tyres and none of us knew if they would make it to the end, so it was hard to judge the right pace and he wasn’t happy with the car balance.

“My feeling is that it can be tricky to find the sweet spot with these new cars and tyres, and probably we didn’t manage that today with Lewis.”

Despite not getting the win he as aiming for, Hamilton said it was “an incredible weekend for the team”.

“I’ll bag the 18 points I got today, keep working and come back recharged for the next one,” he said.

“It was a really great weekend for the team and I’m really happy for everyone. We showed a great performance today and we need to continue to build on this — we have a long season ahead of us.”

The flying Finn started second on the grid but got a jump on the polesitting Briton at the first corner and never looked back, scorching round the Albert Park circuit to take the chequered flag a massive 20.9 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

For Thai-British Alexander Albon, the Scuderia Toro Rosso–Honda‘s driver came at 14th in his F1 debut.

Red Bull’s precocious Max Verstappen came third to join them on the podium after audaciously overtaking Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel midway through the race.

Four-time world champion Vettel had to settle for fourth, trailing in 57.1 seconds behind Bottas. Ferrari partner Charles Leclerc was fifth, with Kevin Magnussen in a Haas sixth.

“How about that! Yes!” said Bottas over the team radio  after also taking the new bonus point for the fastest lap of the race. “Thank you guys.”

Bottas was overshadowed last year by Hamilton, failing to win a race, hampered by mechanical problems and bad luck but was fast in qualifying and only narrowly edged out of pole position.

Bottas, now in his third year with Mercedes, knows he must perform with promising Frenchman Esteban Ocon, 22, waiting in the wings as the team’s reserve driver.

He delivered in spades on Sunday for his fourth Grand Prix win in his 119th race.

Driving on soft tyres on a fine day, he got an electric start and built a gap of 1.153 seconds on Hamilton after the opening lap, with Vettel, Verstappen and Leclerc trailing in their wake.

The gap kept growing, and when Vettel pitted on lap 14 to swap for medium tyres Mercedes called in five-time champion Hamilton soon after.

– Hamilton frustrated –

Bottas stayed out, pumping out fastest laps, and when seven laps later he pitted he emerged more than 10 seconds ahead of his team-mate, who was clearly bemused.

“What was the reason for stopping so early?” Hamilton asked over the team radio, to be told it was to cover Vettel’s early stop.

“I don’t think I’m going to make it to the end on this tyre,” added the frustrated world champion.

With Bottas having an unsurmountable lead the battle was on for second, with Verstappen hounding Hamilton but unable to find a way through.

Mercedes have been in a class of their own all weekend, turning the tables on pre-season testing when Ferrari looked like the team to beat.

The Italian team’s performance will be a source of worry, especially as they haven’t won the constructors’ title since 2008 and their last driver to become world champion was Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

In contrast, Mercedes and Hamilton have been dominant, winning the drivers’ and constructors’ titles five years in a row.

Carlos Sainz Jr was the first casualty, forced to stop his McLaren with smoke and flames billowing out of his engine on lap 10 while he was running 14th.

It was also a day to forget for local hero Daniel Ricciardo in his first race for Renault after switching from Red Bull.

He lost his front wing after running onto the grass before the first corner and had to pit for a new nose. He finally retired on lap 30 of the 58-lap race.

The next Grand Prix is in Bahrain on March 31.

Results from the Australian Formula One Grand Prix after 58 laps of the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne on Sunday:

1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 308 km in 1hr 25min 27.325sec

2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) at 20.886 sec

3. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) at 22.520 sec

4. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) at 57.109 sec

5. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) at 58.230 sec

6. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas) at 1:27.156 sec

7. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Renault) at 1 lap

8. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo) at 1 lap

9. Lance Stroll (CAN/Racing Point) at 1 lap

10. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) at 1 lap

11. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Red Bull) at 1 lap

12. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren) at 1 lap

13. Sergio Perez (MEX/Racing Point) at 1 lap

14. Alexander Albon (THA/Toro Rosso) at 1 lap

15. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) at 1 lap

16. George Russell (GBR/Williams) at 2 laps

17. Robert Kubica (POL/Williams) at 3 laps

Retirements:

10th lap: Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/McLaren) engine

30th lap: Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Renault) mechanical problem

30th lap: Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) mechanical problem

Pep Guardiola’s team roared back from a two-goal half-time deficit to score three times after the break, with Sergio Aguero grabbing a disputed late winner in a 3-2 victory.

But United were unable to match their city rivals, slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Wolves to hand interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a second consecutive defeat.

In a dramatic game in south Wales, Championship side Swansea were 2-0 up against Premier League leaders City shortly before the half hour through a Matt Grimes penalty and fine strike by Bersant Celina.

But Bernardo Silva pulled a goal back in the 69th minute and the visitors went for the kill, drawing level after an Aguero penalty hit a post and went in off goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt.

The City pressure intensified and Aguero had the final word in the 88th minute with a stooping header to complete a stunning fightback.

It was a lucky escape for City as replays showed Raheem Sterling was fortunate to win the penalty that led to the equaliser, while Aguero was marginally offside for the winner.

“If it is not penalty, and it is offside like the people say, I’m sorry,” Guardiola said.

“They ask all the clubs about the VAR (video assistant referee) and all around Europe the VAR is there and here it’s not. I don’t like to lose games when the decisions are wrong but the referees don’t want to make wrong decisions, but they must be helped.”

Having already won the League Cup and advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals, City remain in the hunt for an unprecedented clean sweep of all four major trophies.

– Off-key United –

Twelve-time FA Cup winners United were below par as they followed up last week’s Premier League defeat at Arsenal with a meek exit at Molineux.

Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota sent Wolves into the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in 21 years with two goals in six second-half minutes, with United only having Marcus Rashford’s late consolation to show for their efforts.

United never convinced and could have lost by more, with Sergio Romero turning Jimenez’s header on to the bar and denying Jota.

“I’m very proud of the players. We had composure, shape, good running,” said Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

“It means a lot because we know how big Wolves were in the 1950s and 1960s and there are people in the stadium who have memories of that. To try to achieve the same is much, much harder now but we will try step by step.”

Disappointed Solskjaer, who had only suffered two defeats in 18 games before the Wolves match, described the performance as “a big step backwards”.

“We’ve had a great run and now we’ve had two defeats. Against Arsenal we just couldn’t score and today was poor, the poorest we’ve played,” he said.

“I’m here until the summer, we’ve got loads to play for in the league and the Champions League.”

In the early game on Saturday Andre Gray came off the bench to fire Watford into last four with a late winner in their 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

Javi Gracia’s side had taken the lead through Etienne Capoue’s first-half strike before Michy Batshuayi equalised for Palace after the interval.

Championship side Millwall host Premier League side Brighton on Sunday.

Sharma’s two-shot victory at the Saujana Golf and Country Club last year was the springboard to further success as he would go on to clinch the prestigious Asian Tour Order of Merit at the end of 2018.

The 22-year-old will be returning to the same venue where he overturned a four-shot deficit and closed with a magnificent 10-under-par 62 to win his second Asian Tour title last February.

“The most memorable moment for me in 2018 was winning the Maybank Championship. That started things off for me. The victory opened many doors for me,” said Sharma, who also went on to play in all four Majors and all the World Golf Championships tournaments in the year.

With his victory at the Maybank Championship, Sharma became the first Asian and second Asian Tour member after inaugural Australian winner (2016) Marcus Fraser to clinch the title.

“2018 is the year that I’ll remember for the rest of my life and obviously that win in Malaysia played a huge role in those good memories too. I’m feeling ready to go and take off from where I left last year,” said Sharma.

The Indian joins an illustrious list of Asian Tour Order of Merit champions that include Australia’s Scott Hend, Malaysia’s Gavin Green, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, compatriot Arjun Atwal and David Lipsky of the United States, who will all be returning to contend at the Malaysian showpiece which starts from March 21-24.

Green, who became the first Malaysian in the Asian Tour’s history to lift the coveted Order of Merit title, will be banking on the home ground advantage for a better showing after finishing tied-39th and tied-47th in 2018 and 2017 respectively.

“I feel I’m mentally and physically prepared. Definitely there’s a chance (to win) but I need to stay patient and handle the pressure of playing in front of the home crowd,” said Green.

Other notable names in the strong 156-man field include Major champions Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington. Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa as well as Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Poom Saksansin.

As part of Maybank’s commitment and efforts to bolster regional talent and provide a platform for players to take their game further, the ASEAN invite category will also feature Singapore’s Johnson Poh and Jesse Yap, Myanmar’s Ye Thet Aung, Indonesia’s Danny Masrin and Philippines’ Angelo Que, who are part of the five-player ASEAN line-up.

H.E. Shiekh Saoud Al-Thani Ambassador of Qatar to Berlin and  Mr. Vissanu Laichapis, Deputy Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) were also at the ceremony.

Sunday’s race will see a Thai flag flying over the grid for the first time in the modern F1 era. Albon, born to a Thai mother and an English father, posted an impressive time of 1m22.636s in qualifying for 13th place on the grid. More impressive still was that the Thai rookie out-qualified his Toro Rosso teammate, Daniil Kvyat, who already has a season in F1 under his belt. Kvyat will start two places behind Albon on the grid in 15th.

Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position with a time of 1m20.486s, just ahead of his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Third on the grid is Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel while Red Bull driver Max Verstappen rounds off the top four.

The race begins on Sunday at 12.10pm Thai time.

Provisional starting grid

POS    DRIVER    CAR    TIME    GAP

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m20.486s    –

2    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    1m20.598s    0.112s

3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m21.190s    0.704s

4    Max Verstappen    Red Bull/Honda    1m21.320s    0.834s

5    Charles Leclerc    Ferrari    1m21.442s    0.956s

6    Romain Grosjean    Haas/Ferrari    1m21.826s    1.340s

7    Kevin Magnussen    Haas/Ferrari    1m22.099s    1.613s

8    Lando Norris    McLaren/Renault    1m22.304s    1.818s

9    Kimi Raikkonen    Alfa Romeo/Ferrari    1m22.314s    1.828s

10    Sergio Perez    Racing Point/Mercedes    1m22.781s    2.295s

11    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m22.562s    –

12    Daniel Ricciardo    Renault    1m22.570s    –

13    Alexander Albon    Toro Rosso/Honda    1m22.636s    –

14    Antonio Giovinazzi    Alfa Romeo/Ferrari    1m22.714s    –

15    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso/Honda    1m22.774s    –

16    Lance Stroll    Racing Point/Mercedes    1m23.017s    –

17    Pierre Gasly    Red Bull/Honda    1m23.020s    –

18    Carlos Sainz    McLaren/Renault    1m23.084s    –

19    George Russell    Williams/Mercedes    1m24.360s    –

20    Robert Kubica    Williams/Mercedes    1m26.067s    –

The Briton clocked a fastest lap of one minute 20.486 to narrowly pip team-mate Valtteri Bottas, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third, but well off the pace on 1:21.190. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth and Ferrari newcomer Charles Leclerc fifth.

The 34-year-old is the pole master in Melbourne, claiming it eight times and every year since 2014, although he has only twice, in 2008 and 2015, won a race at Albert Park.

He knocked out his rivals with a blistering lap at the death to claim an 84th career grid-leading time in his 230th race.

“I’m shaking, it was so close out there,” said Hamilton.

“Coming from testing we had no idea where we would be, but the guys in the factory have been working so hard towards this weekend.

“Valtteri did an exceptional job, it was so close.”

Hamilton, bidding for a sixth world title to move within one of Michael Schumacher’s record seven, topped all three free practice sessions before making it four-out-of-four during qualifying.

His dominance in qualifying in Melbourne is unsurpassed with Ayrton Senna, on six poles, the next in line.

Hamilton complained after pre-season testing in Barcelona that Ferrari was much quicker, but it appears to have been mind games with business as usual resumed this week.

Mercedes and Hamilton have been dominant in Formula One in recent years, winning the drivers’ and constructors’ titles five years in a row and Ferrari — and Vettel — are desperate to catch up.

While the German won in Melbourne last year and backed it up with victory at the next race in Bahrain, Hamilton roared back to sweep 11 of the remaining 19 Grand Prix to comfortably be crowned champion.

All Vettel’s world titles came at Red Bull, from 2010-2013, while Ferrari haven’t won a constructors crown since 2008 and no driver at the Italian outfit has tasted championship success since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

Hamilton topped Q2 in 1:21:014 from Bottas and Verstappen, with Vettel running into the gravel at Turn 12, kicking up dirt and dust and telling his team on the radio that the “floor, front wing” would need to be checked.

Daniel Ricciardo was a big casualty in Q2, finishing 12th in his first outing for new team Renault after moving from Red Bull. His team-mate Nico Hulkenberg also missed the cut, as did Toro Rosso pair Daniel Kvyat and Alexander Albon.

Leclerc topped Q1 with 1:22:017 ahead of Hamilton and Bottas.

Red Bull newcomer Pierre Gasly was among those who failed to get out of Q1 along with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll.

Robert Kubica, who clipped the wall and sustained a puncture in his Williams, was last.