Liverpool were on course for a draw with the bottom-of-the-table side before the Argentine midfielder's 20-yard strike 14 minutes before the end of the game put them ahead 2-1, with Cody Gakpo then going on to seal the victory with a third goal in the 90th minute.

And the Liverpool boss couldn't be happier to have the World Cup winner - who moved to Merseyside from Brighton last summer - in his team.

He said after the game: "We needed Macca's wonder goal to turn it around. He is super important for us, a wonderful player and a wonderful boy - I'm really happy for Liverpool that we got him.

"His defensive work has been really good where people were doubting if he could be defensive, but I prefer him in the eight [attacking midfield].

"He is a really good player. In the first half he was playing [as a] six, but we knew we could move him slightly higher. Then he scores this kind of goal, the two biggest screamers of the season [after also scoring from long distance against Fulham] have come from him. Then the free-kick directly after [the goal] - absolutely insane, what a player."

Blades boss Chris Wilder also acknowledged the second goal against his side was a "world-class" strike.

He said: "The narrative at the press conference before the game and in the interviews was a sense that we were just here to make the numbers up and this was going to be a comfortable evening for Liverpool.

"That was not our motivation, or our emotions and we try to do everything for the club. In possession they dominated, they dominate everybody, but we hung on in there. We had good opportunities.

"We got done by a world-class goal. In the last 15 minutes, you saw the power of the Premier League, and our Achilles heel has been conceding late goals."

The result moved the Reds two points clear of Arsenal and three ahead of reigning champions Manchester City, with eight league games left, keeping them in the title race.