LONDON -- Liverpool are a fabulous, thrilling, football team in full flow. All controlled aggression, relentless pace, viscerally incisive attacks, loosely organised chaos.

But the reason they're eight points clear at the top of the Premier League and holding steady on their course for a first title in 30 years is that they're more than that. They don't have to be in full flow to win.

They're winning games scruffily, calmly, luckily. Through sheer force of personality, through skill, through brilliant goals. By taking full advantage of mistakes, by calmly taking control of games, by just refusing to give up. By any means necessary, in short.

For this 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, they combined scruffiness and calmness, reacting brilliantly twice. Firstly to a disjointed first half in which the hosts had a goal disallowed by VAR, taking the lead through Sadio Mane (the No. 2 ranked winger in the ESPN FC 100) early in the second half; secondly by almost instantly hitting back after Wilfried Zaha had equalised, Roberto Firmino stabbing home the winner through a chaotic goalmouth scramble.

This was their seventh success by one goal this season, with six of their past seven victories coming by that margin, three of which came thanks to goals after the 85th minute.

"Today it was absolutely no problem that we weren't brilliant," said Jurgen Klopp (the No. 1 ranked manager in the ESPN FC 100). "Because in a game like this you just have to make sure you're ready to fight for the result. We did that from the first minute.

"Could we have played better? Yes. But on Thursday morning we still had players on their way back from Abu Dhabi [where Brazil played South Korea on Tuesday], which is not too cool. We never take getting a result at Palace for granted, so that feels good."

Early in the game Palace seemed to target Trent Alexander-Arnold as a potential weak link, pressing and harassing him whenever he got the ball. It worked initially. In the first 20 minutes alone he played three awful, rushed passes, one of which conceded a corner from near the halfway line, another led to Jordan Ayew missing a simple chance from 8 yards out.

Alexander-Arnold could easily have been rattled, but after a shift in formation from the 4-4-2 employed in the absence of Mo Salah to the usual 4-3-3, he cleared his head and settled into the game. That's a theme of this Liverpool side, both in general and in this game.

Palace were the more threatening team before the break: Liverpool had more of the ball, but the home side created better chances, not least the goal they had disallowed just before the break when James Tomkins slid into acres of space at the back post to head a free kick from deep in the left corner home.

This was a decision that displayed the best and worst elements of VAR, which has been neither Liverpool's friend nor enemy this season. The worst, because everyone stood around for about two minutes as referee Kevin Friend pressed his finger to his earpiece like a baffled presidential bodyguard, nobody really sure what was going on. The best, because the decision was probably correct.

Right or not, at least it was consistent. Jordan Ayew's push on Dejan Lovren was slight, but about the same level as the one by Alexander-Arnold on Zaha that led to the free kick. The incident was replayed on the big screens afterwards, which given it wasn't exactly an obvious foul, didn't help the mood in the stands -- a few minutes later, the home fans called for VAR over the award of a throw-in. Nice try.

After the break, Mane quickly gave them the lead with a decisive finish, and Liverpool seemed to play with a cool, detached calmness and controlled the game pretty easily. They pressed when they needed to, slowed things down when they needed to and Klopp made a positive substitution at the perfect time, bringing on Divock Origi for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to press the advantage home.

But that coolness was tested when Zaha equalised, requiring another switch in mentality from maintenance of the status quo to chasing the game. It took them three minutes, Firmino scuffing home his first goal since September before anyone on their side really had chance to get nervous. They retook the lead so quickly that Mo Salah, summoned from the bench straight after Zaha's goal, didn't even have time to come on.

"With all the things today that weren't so good we were always the dominant team, the more active team," said Klopp. "We don't stop with these things even won on a day when it's not perfect. We concede a goal, and we can see in the face of the boys [that another chance will come]."

There were moments of defensive uncertainty that may give Klopp some concern. The space in the area Tomkins was given for the goal that didn't count; the space in the area Zaha was given for the one that did; the space Zaha was given in injury-time for an effort he inexplicably booted into the Holmesdale Road end. A better team with better fortune will take better advantage of those moments.

But for now though, Liverpool are eight points clear of second-place Leicester and the sort of real, tangible weaknesses that might lead to them throwing away that advantage are becoming increasingly hard to find.

"37 points after 13 matches is exceptional," said Klopp. "And you can't have that after only winning brilliant games. We're not out there to send messages, we just want to get results.

"We're not out there to show we invented football. We have a job to do."

India 347 for 9 dec (Kohli 136, Pujara 55, Rahane 51, Al-Amin 3-85, Ebadot 3-91) beat Bangladesh 106 (Ishant 5-22, Umesh 3-29) and 195 (Mushfiqur 74, Umesh 5-53, Ishant 4-56) by an innings and 46 runs

It took India about 47 minutes on the third day to become the first team in Test cricket to win four straight matches by an innings. At 968 balls, this was the shortest Test with an outright result in India, beating the 1028 balls against Afghanistan last year. The win took India's winning streak to their longest: seven. The most incredible statistic, though, was that this was India's first home Test win without a single wicket from a spinner. It was only their second such win overall, after Johannesburg in 2018.

The only man missing out on a great day for statistics was Ishant Sharma, who started the day one wicket short of registering his best match figures and only his second 10-wicket match haul. There were four wickets standing, including a hamstrung Mahmudullah. Umesh Yadav bolted past Ishant for the innings, taking three wickets, and Mahmudullah couldn't make it to bat again. That gave Umesh his second Test five-for.

The tail was never going to deny India, with the lower order backing away frequently against the unsettling pace of the fast bowlers. Overnight half-centurion Mushfiqur Rahim was going to be the only resistance, and it ended with a clever slower ball as he looked for quick runs.

India 347 for 9 dec (Kohli 136, Pujara 55, Rahane 51, Al-Amin 3-85, Ebadot 3-91) beat Bangladesh 106 (Ishant 5-22, Umesh 3-29) and 195 (Mushfiqur 74, Umesh 5-53, Ishant 4-56) by an innings and 46 runs

It took India about 47 minutes on the third day to become the first team in Test cricket to win four straight matches by an innings. At 968 balls, this was the shortest Test with an outright result in India, beating the 1028 balls against Afghanistan last year. The win took India's winning streak to their longest: seven. The most incredible statistic, though, was that this was India's first home Test win without a single wicket from a spinner. It was only their second such win overall, after Johannesburg in 2018.

The only man missing out on a great day for statistics was Ishant Sharma, who started the day one wicket short of registering his best match figures and only his second 10-wicket match haul. There were four wickets standing, including a hamstrung Mahmudullah. Umesh Yadav bolted past Ishant for the innings, taking three wickets, and Mahmudullah couldn't make it to bat again. That gave Umesh his second Test five-for.

The tail was never going to deny India, with the lower order backing away frequently against the unsettling pace of the fast bowlers. Overnight half-centurion Mushfiqur Rahim was going to be the only resistance, and it ended with a clever slower ball as he looked for quick runs.

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali will consider changes to his batting line-up in addition to the likely recall of Mohammad Abbas after his side's defeat to Australia in the first Test, in which the visitors offered up numerous promising phases but still left the Gabba bruised and smarting from an innings defeat.

Haris Sohail looked very much out of his depth at No. 3, allowing the Australians to follow up their first wicket with damaging follow-ups in each innings - a marked contrast to the superb 185 piled on by Marnus Labuschagne at first drop for the hosts. And though Azhar called for calm in assessments of the visiting team, noting how Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan had shown the way with sparkling second-innings displays, he conceded that in Australia there was no room for the lapses seen at the Gabba.

ALSO READ: Abbas still 'main man' for Pakistan - Waqar

"When you play Test cricket in Australia, you cannot afford to go behind as it is very difficult to then catch up," Azhar said. "The way we won the toss and we played in the first session without losing a wicket, that was an opportunity for us to go in front and take the initiative in the game. That chance we lost in the second session and that made sure we could't reach the kind of total we needed to put pressure on them.

"Similarly, we failed to create pressure early on with the ball. We couldn't take wickets with the new ball and couldn't control the run rate either. But the boys kept fighting in the second innings and also when we bowled on day three. Babar played a great innings and so did Rizwan. Shan [Masood] was batting well too. They were the positives. But the reason we don't win in Australia is that way too often we get behind in the game early on rather than make the most of the opportunities that come our way.

"The most difficult session was the opening session; it was not easy. But we lost the second session where we lost a lot of wickets in no time. That was a great setback for us. There were soft dismissals, that's why [we] missed the opportunity to score a big total. After scoring 240, we weren't able to get wickets with the new ball. The bowlers kept fighting even when their score read 300 for 2. Labuschagne played a brilliant knock. [David] Warner played a great knock."

Addressing the batting line-up, Azhar reckoned that the post-mortems would possibly result in change, keeping in mind the challenges to be offered up by the pink ball on an Adelaide pitch that will likely feature at least some grass to aid the seam bowlers on both sides.

"Facing the new ball is very important in Australia, and they made full use of it in the second innings. Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition. They bowled in very good areas last evening," Azhar said. "But in the first innings, the top order started well but then lost their way in the middle. I still think they are capable, but we have a few days now and we will rethink our strategy for the Adelaide Test.

"We will sit and do a recap of this game and discuss everything and try to figure out the best playing XI for Adelaide. It's not fair to raise too many questions over our batsmen this early on. At times, a player can have a tough Test but that doesn't make him a bad player. I have full faith on all the batsmen that they can score runs here. You've seen the way Babar batted. Rizwan is a nice addition to the side but the confidence with which he came out and faced the Australian attack [is commendable]. Not scoring runs doesn't mean you are not capable of doing so."

As for the visiting bowlers, Azhar said that a lack of experience had been costly when defending a mediocre first-innings total, and also intimated that the extra pressure of a Test match had affected various members of the touring XI. A recall for Abbas may help, but there will also need to be greater presence of mind shown whoever takes the ball - there was a yawning gap in the performances of the tourists against Australia A in Perth, and it was under the spotlight again in Brisbane.

"The young attack has a lot of potential but you can't buy experience. It's never easy in a place like Australia," he said. "They started off little shaky but they came back strongly the next day even though the Australian batsmen were really set. They came back strong and kept bowling in good areas after that. I believe if they manage to do that from the start of the innings, they'll be a totally different attack after that.

"I think that game [in Perth] was a first-class game and this is a Test. The pressure is different and the pitch condition is different. There we scored 400-plus runs and bowled really well with the new ball. Here we didn't put up a very big total and we didn't bowl in the areas that we did against Australia A. The execution was not there. But again, I still feel there is potential there and we have to obviously do those things well to create problems for the opposition."

Jos Buttler believes England must learn from New Zealand's approach in the first Test in Mount Manganui.

While England were kept in the field for more than 200 overs as New Zealand amassed more than 600 runs, Buttler felt it was England's batsmen who had most to learn from New Zealand's disciplined approach to the game. England were dismissed for 353 in their first innings; a score that looks ever more below par the longer the match progresses.

"If we're really critical, it's the first-innings runs with the bat [which have cost us]," Buttler said. "New Zealand played a very patient game with the bat. They showed the value of that patient game of batting on flat wickets and setting your sights very high. BJ Watling and Mitchell Santner really set their stall out and batted for a long time. They put a lot of overs into our legs and built that score.

"We have to learn to be able to do that. You look at the top sides around the world on flat wickets and they get very, very big scores and bat for a very, very long time.

"That's a big learning point for us. With the bat, just when you think you're getting to a place where you need to be, there's a lot more hard work to come to build those big scores.

"You can't fault the bowlers' efforts. I thought the effort of everyone was outstanding."

While Buttler accepted England had struggled to adapt from the "fast-forward cricket" played in England in recent times, he rejected the suggestion the Kookaburra ball should be adopted in Championship cricket. Instead he insisted the Dukes ball, which generally provides bowlers with more assistance, created more entertaining cricket but suggested the pitches in county cricket should be improved.

"Test cricket with a Dukes ball in England is fantastic," he said. "It's very watchable. It's a good contest between bat and ball. I think most people talk about introducing a Dukes to the rest of the world as opposed to the other way around.

"The product we have with Test cricket in England is up there with the best product in the world so I wouldn't want to tamper with that very much.

"One thing potentially we can do in England is play on better batting wickets. The Dukes ball still offers the bowlers enough, especially in England if you get the overhead conditions. But we could look at playing county cricket on better batting wickets.

"But we have played a lot of Test cricket in different conditions over the past year where it's been fast-forward cricket. We have to be adaptable. There's some education for all of us as batters."

What had looked a docile pitch when New Zealand batted suddenly looked full of danger when England began their second innings. But Butter suggested that was a reflection of the match situation and the pressure England were under as much as it was anything to do with the pitch. And, he said, it was another area England had to learn from New Zealand.

"We have to learn about scoreboard pressure as well," he said. "If you have got those runs on the board, if you have put miles into the legs of batsmen who have to field for 200 overs, it puts those guys under a lot of pressure when they come out to bat 10 minutes later.

"Scoreboard pressure is massive. If we had made 450-500-plus in the first innings, it would have been a completely different outlook for the team batting second."

Buttler also defended Jofra Archer from any criticism, providing a reminder that he is only five Tests into his career.

"I think you all forget Jofra is very new to international cricket," he said. "It's his first overseas tour and the first time he's bowled with a Kookaburra ball. He is a very special talent but he is only five games into his Test career. You can't ask too much of him too soon.

"He's a very special talent and we've got to look after him. He's a fantastic guy and has a great attitude as well. He'll learn from this and he's a great attribute to us."

Australia 580 (Labuschagne 185, Warner 154, Burns 97, Wade 60, Yasir 4-205) beat Pakistan 240 (Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52) and 335 (Azam 104, Rizwan 95, Hazlewood 4-63) by an innings and five runs

Australia were made to work harder than appeared likely in securing an innings-and-five-run victory on the fourth day at the Gabba as Babar Azam scored a magnificently classy second Test hundred and Mohammad Rizwan fell five runs short of his first before the tail went down swinging.

When Pakistan were reduced to 5 for 94 in the morning session - the same position they found themselves in the first innings - the prospect of Australia needing the second new ball or coming close to batting again seemed far-fetched. However, Azam and Rizwan added 132 for the sixth wicket then Rizwan was joined by Yasir Shah to put on 79 for the seventh.

The loss of Rizwan for 95, moments before the second new ball was taken, ended the resistance and the Pakistan fast bowlers were in for a good time, not a long time. Josh Hazlewood finished with 4 for 63 in what was Australia's 13th straight victory at home against Pakistan.

Azam played an outstanding knock, a fine response to the poor stroke in the first innings which left Pakistan in trouble. He barely put a foot wrong this time, scoring freely around the wicket, with the driving standing out as so often in a typical Azam innings. There were no nervous nineties for him as he pulled Pat Cummins through midwicket before driving wide of mid-off to bring up his first overseas hundred off 160 balls.

Nathan Lyon brought his innings to a halt when a quicker delivery found the edge and Tim Paine took a sharp catch, but that was not a prelude to a swift conclusion as Rizwan matched Azam stroke for stroke only to upper cut Hazlewood to third man moments before the second new ball.

Significant damage had been done to Pakistan's top order on the third evening and they resumed on 3 for 64. There were promising signs in the first hour as Azam and Shan Masood repelled the Australia quicks, although Masood was challenged by considerable seam movement Cummins extracted from the fourth-day wicket.

It was Cummins who struck first when Masood got a thin top edge on a hook and in the next over Hazlewood produced a peach to take a nick from Iftikhar Ahmed. Pakistan have had no contribution from two of their top six in this match - Ahmed and Haris Sohail - and it will give them plenty to ponder ahead of the Adelaide Test on Friday.

Australia sensed an early wrap-up but then hit the roadblock. A sweetly-timed drive off Mitchell Starc took Azam to his half-century; his judgement of length against pace and spin was a standout feature of the innings. There was moment of mild concern on 75 when Australia reviewed an lbw shout from Hazlewood which was umpire's call on trimming the bails.

Azam's Test career has been on an upward curve over the last 12 months and he tuned up stylishly with a hundred against Australia A, but this could yet be a crucial moment in the career of a batsman who is earmarked as one who can join the elite.

Rizwan, in his second Test, had shown his feisty qualities in the first innings before edging a Cummins delivery which was a borderline no-ball that many felt should have been called. He played second fiddle to Azam for the first part of his innings but became more aggressive during the afternoon and evening session. His duel with Lyon - whom he slog-swept to bring up his maiden Test fifty from 86 balls - was especially absorbing. The offspinner targeted the footmarks created by Starc and Rizwan was keen to use his feet, highlighted by a wonderful drive through the covers that almost brought applause from the bowler himself.

On 92 it appeared he may have fallen to one of the great short leg catches when Marnus Labuschagne moved with a paddle sweep, the ball lobbing behind square with Labuschagne flinging himself full length to get the ball in his fingertips but the third umpire ruled it had been grounded. Subsequent replays suggested it hadn't hit the bat in any event.

Perhaps keen to reach three figures before the new ball, Rizwan's eyes lit up when Hazlewood's first ball back was short outside off and he sent it straight to Lyon at third man. The only question then was whether the final three wickets would make Australia's openers pad up. Yasir - whose batting was encouraging for Pakistan in both innings - missed a maiden Test fifty when he got a leading edge to mid-off and three overs later Matthew Wade's catch at long-on was the final act in another comprehensive Gabba victory for Australia.