It is likely that Jürgen Klopp’s description of Leicester as the toughest Premier League opponent to face at the moment was meant as a compliment to Brendan Rodgers rather than a dig at Manchester City, but either way the Foxes lived up to their billing by giving Liverpool their biggest scare of the domestic season so far.

A James Maddison equaliser 10 minutes from the end appeared to have stopped Liverpool’s winning sequence at 16 and prevented the leaders opening an eight-point overnight gap on Manchester City, until a Marc Albrighton mistake in added time handed the game to the home side, who can now equal the Premier League record of 18 straight wins when they visit Old Trafford after the international break.

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Leicester were looking good value for a point when Albrighton cleanly dispossessed Divock Origi as the substitute tried to set up one last attack, only to eschew the option of allowing Kasper Schmeichel to take over for fear of the back-pass rule and instead turning into trouble in the form of Sadio Mané. The Senegal striker reclaimed the ball six yards out, obliging Albrighton to concede a penalty.

Schmeichel and the Leicester players protested furiously but VAR upheld the decision and James Milner struck a last-gasp winner from the spot. It is debatable whether Albrighton would have been penalised had he allowed Schmeichel to gather, though doubt must have existed in his mind. Given his time again he would probably choose the safer course of clearing for a corner.

“When you come to the European champions and show resilience like we did, to lose in the 95th minute is hard to take,” said Rodgers. “I thought it was a soft penalty, Mané has made the most of the contact, but strikers now are clever.”

Klopp was happy to agree with the referee, though he did feel that the cynical challenge by Hamza Choudhury that forced Mo Salah off late in the game was too leniently punished by a yellow card. “I don’t want to cause the boy any problems but he needs to calm down,” the Liverpool manager said. “Salah was at full sprint, the ball was far away, there is only one card for that in my eyes. It was as dangerous as hell.”

Though Liverpool led for much of the game Klopp was right to feel the encounter might prove difficult. Leicester are third in the table for a reason, and Liverpool were pushed all the way by a side playing a similarly high-energy, in-your-face sort of game. While Rodgers’ players never did quite enough to look like winning the match they were never out of it either.

Liverpool were in front at the interval thanks to Mané’s typically confident strike, though the lead could have been greater had Milner shown a little more composure from close range after Trent Alexander-Arnold had tricked Ben Chilwell on the right with a little help from the corner flag. Mané shot straight at Schmeichel when the referee played advantage after Wilfred Ndidi upended Milner, and when another Alexander-Arnold cross reached Roberto Firmino at the far post after half an hour the Brazilian could not direct his effort on target.

While Leicester probably expected a first-half battering they were just beginning to show some attacking enterprise of their own when they went behind, the ever-reliable Milner sending Mané clear down the left with a pass from half way. Momentary hesitation from Jonny Evans saw the Liverpool forward overtake him on the inside, and once he reached the area unchecked a goal was inevitable, Mané steering a low shot into the bottom corner.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The players lock horns after the final whistle. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

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Leicester needed Schmeichel again to deny Salah at the start of the second half, yet though Caglar Soyuncu and Evans were stretched at times the visitors never allowed Liverpool to relax. In between shots from Firmino, Andy Robertson and Georginio Wijnaldum at Schmeichel’s end Jamie Vardy got just the one sniff at the other, staying onside but showing Adrián too much of the ball. The introduction of Ayoze Pérez made a difference for Leicester – it was the substitute’s short pass that allowed Maddison to beat Adrián with a shot on the turn.

Leicester looked all set for a happy journey home until the drama in stoppage-time turned the afternoon on its head, with Pérez clearly miffed after the whistle at the exuberance of some of the Liverpool players’ celebrations.