Premiership: Liverpool beat Chelsea

Vladimir Smicer cracked home a magnificent volley in injury-time as Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 at Anfield.

Liverpool had scarcely deserved more than a point for their display up until that moment, and had Mario Stanic or Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink shown more composure then the Reds might easily have lost.

But Smicer's goal means Liverpool have replaced Manchester United as league leaders.

The Reds have a one-point lead over their fierce rivals and two over Arsenal, who are nicely tucked in having played two games fewer than the top two.

There was not the same urgency about Liverpool's play as there was against Roma, and instead it was Chelsea who first seized the initiative as Emmanuel Petit shot wide - and then Hasselbaink blasted a free-kick into the Liverpool wall.

Jesper Gronkjaer then escaped down the right and played a dangerous ball in behind the Liverpool defence, which the stretching Eidur Gudjohnsen steered just wide.

On 26 minutes, Petit played Gudjohnsen in on the left and he chipped the ball back from the byline to the back post, where Stanic hit a volley which Jerzy Dudek expertly parried. The loose ball fell to Hasselbaink, who blasted over.

Liverpool were forced to make the first change two minutes later when Steven Gerrard came off injured to be replaced by Smicer. Gerrard looked in some discomfort, and is more than likely to withdraw from the England squad for Wednesday's friendly against Italy at Elland Road.

Liverpool needed to step up not just one but several gears in the second half, and Emile Heskey went close with a glancing header from John Arne Riise's free-kick on the left before Michael Owen entered the fray on 57 minutes.

It was Chelsea, though, who should have opened the scoring - and Gronkjaer wastefully shot wide from Lampard's great ball.

At the other end William Gallas halted the twisting and turning Owen in the box, and then Riise drove a left-foot shot into the arms of Carlo Cudicini.

Nicolas Anelka beat Cudicini only for the effort to be disallowed for offside as Liverpool stepped up the pressure, but then Hasselbaink missed a great chance to win the game for Chelsea three minutes from time when he shot over after playing a one-two with substitute Gianfranco Zola to unlock the Reds' defence.

Smicer was not so wasteful - and when in the first minute of stoppage time Heskey got down the left flank and sent over a delightful cross the Czech international met it with a superb volley for this third of the season.