Liverpool won the Merseyside derby with a 4-1 victory at Everton on Wednesday while Premier League leaders Chelsea fought for a 2-1 win at Watford and Manchester City enjoyed a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa.

With fourth-placed West Ham held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton they are now seven points behind third-placed Liverpool who, along with Chelsea and Manchester City, look set for a three-horse race for the title.

After 14 games, Chelsea lead on 33 points with City a point behind and Liverpool on 31.

Juergen Klopp’s side got four goals at the home of their neighbours for the first time since 1982, with Mohamed Salah scoring twice to maintain his electric form.

Jordan Henderson put Liverpool in front with a magnificent curling shot in the ninth minute before setting up Salah for the second.

It was one-way traffic and Everton, led by former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, looked at real risk of an embarrassing scoreline.

Demarai Gray pulled back a goal before the interval to give a restless home crowd some hope before a mistake by Seamus Coleman allowed Salah in on goal to make it 3-1 and then Diogo Jota produced a brilliant turn before blasting past Jordan Pickford to complete the rout.

“I liked what I saw and it was by far the best performance we’ve done at Goodison,” said Klopp.

“We made a big step in our development that we can take these kind of games, even though they are really important for the opponent. We can put emotions to the side. It was for sure a nine-out-of-10 performance from each of the boys,” added the German.

ZIYECH HITS WINNER FOR CHELSEA

After recent draws against Burnley and Manchester United, Chelsea could ill afford to drop points at Watford but manager Thomas Tuchel conceded they were fortunate to collect all three from Vicarage Road.

The visitors took the lead when Mason Mount coolly converted after a well-worked move in the 29th minute.

Watford deservedly levelled before the break through Nigerian Emmanuel Dennis only for substitute Hakim Ziyech to strike the winner 12 minutes later with the outstanding Mount the creator.

“We need a lot of points if we want to stay in the title race. We felt like we lost two points against Burnley and Manchester United. We stole minimum two, maybe three back today,” said Tuchel.

Ollie Watkins got Villa back into the game but City collected their fourth league win in a row.

“We came here against an incredible team with quality and top players and the way we played in the first half and even the second was magnificent,” said City manager Pep Guardiola.

“We conceded in the first minute of the second and it’s so difficult but we played with huge personality, a really good game,” he said.

An 89th-minute overhead kick from Neal Maupay frustrated West Ham at Brighton after the Londoners had taken an early lead through Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek’s header.

Leicester City had to come from behind twice to get a 2-2 draw at Southampton with James Maddison’s 49th-minute strike earning Brendan Rodgers’s side a point that leaves the Foxes in eighth place.

Sixth placed Wolverhampton Wanderers were frustrated in a 0-0 draw at home to 18th-placed Burnley who have drawn five of their last seven games.

Antonio Conte’s unbeaten league start as Tottenham boss continued as they kept pace with the top four with a comfortable win over a lacklustre Brentford.

A 12th-minute own goal from right wing-back Sergi Canos gave them the lead, before Son Heung-min finished off a scintillating counter-attack in the second half.

The opener came from a Son dinked cross after a short corner, with Pontus Jansson’s clearing header ricocheting off Ben Davies and onto Canos before flying into the roof of the net.

Spurs pressed for more goals, with Son denied from range in the first half, while Harry Kane saw a one-on-one effort well saved by Alvaro Fernandez after the break.

Son got the goal that his performance, and Spurs’ display, deserved when he latched onto Sergio Reguilon’s cross to tap home from six yards.

It was a limp display from Brentford, with their only shot on target in the whole game a tame left-footed effort from Ivan Toney.

Tottenham climb to sixth – two points behind West Ham in fourth – while Brentford slip to 12th.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 800th career goal before driving home a penalty winner as Manchester United came from behind to beat Arsenal in a memorable contest featuring two crucial VAR decisions.

As new United interim boss Ralf Rangnick watched from the directors’ box, where former England captain David Beckham also enjoyed a thrilling encounter, Arsenal scored first in controversial circumstances.

Emile Smith Rowe drove home from the edge of the area, while United keeper David de Gea was lying on the ground, seemingly injured, with his back to play.

The inevitable VAR check concluded De Gea had fallen after bumping into and being trodden on by his own team-mate Fred, and referee Martin Atkinson gave the goal.

Bruno Fernandes levelled, when he finished off an intricate move involving Jadon Sancho and Fred a minute before the break, setting up the pulsating second half that followed.

Ronaldo put United ahead as he swept home Marcus Rashford’s cross, but Martin Odegaard made it 2-2 with a well-taken equaliser.

Then came the second big VAR decision, as Atkinson gave United a penalty after reviewing Odegaard’s challenge on Fred on a pitchside monitor – and Ronaldo kept his nerve to score.

Watching proceedings unfold, Rangnick was largely impassive and made plenty of notes, although he did stand to applaud Ronaldo’s winner.

The result leaves United three points off fourth-placed Arsenal after recording two wins and a draw under Michael Carrick, the interim’s interim.

Carrick, stand-in for the past three matches, said afterwards that he was leaving the club, where he has been since 2006, first as a player and latterly as a coach.

Leave a Reply