Premier League roundup: Liverpool survives pesky Palace, while Manchester United wins seventh straight
Crystal Palace has a history of costing Liverpool the Premier League title. But if the Reds are going to slip up again this season, it won’t be because of their old nemesis.
Mohamed Salah scored twice, including the go-ahead goal midway through the second half, as Liverpool fended off Palace 4-3 at Anfield to retain the top spot in the league table for another week.
In May 2014, Liverpool blew a three-goal lead at Palace and settled for a draw, all but ending its quest to win the top flight for the first time in the Premier League era. Those demons surely bubbled back up when Andros Townsend expertly finished a well-weighted Wilfried Zaha ball into the box to give Palace a first-half lead:
But Liverpool, which dominated the run of play for vast stretches and suffocated Palace’s back third with possession, finally finding an equalizer right after halftime when Mohamed Salah poked home a deflected Virgil van Dijk shot from distance:
Roberto Firmino handed the hosts the lead in the 53rd minute, only for James Tomkins to draw Palace level in the 65th minute, bringing back the butterflies for the Anfield faithful.
Salah’s second goal in the 75th minute restored the advantage to Liverpool, although in truth the man most responsible was Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni. He made a meal out of attempting to punch James Milner’s cross away, or corral it, or whatever he was trying to do, and Salah pounced:
Sadio Mane added what proved to be necessary insurance with a goal in the third minute of stoppage time, because Max Meyer pulled one back two minutes later. But neither he nor Palace could find one final goal to salvage a draw, despite Milner being red-carded late and Liverpool being reduced to 10 men.
Liverpool is now seven points clear in first place, with Manchester City set to play Sunday at last-place Huddersfield Town. Either way, the Reds will need to rack up points before a brutal two-week stretch starts in late February (vs. Bayern Munich in the Champions League, at Manchester United, and at Everton in the Merseyside derby).
For now, they can let out a sigh of relief.
Manchester United 2, Brighton & Hove Albion 1
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remained perfect as Man United’s interim manager, winning for the seventh time in seven matches across all competitions.
Six of those wins have come in the Premier League, and United has closed the gap on fourth-place Chelsea from 11 points to three. Part of Solskjaer’s success has been a more easygoing approach, a marked departure from hard-driving former manager Jose Mourinho that welcomes United’s players to express themselves more within the team construct.
Take Marcus Rashford’s goal against Brighton, for instance, which would prove to be the game-winner:
The dribbling, the cutback, the vision for his finish, all of it justifies the hype that follows the 21-year-old, who started at center forward after failing to make a consistent impression under Mourinho.
Paul Pogba was knocked over in the box and converted the ensuing penalty in the 27th minute, while Pascal Groß scored in the second half to give Brighton a glimmer of hope that would ultimately fizzle out.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 4, Leicester City 3
Saturday started with a bang as Wolves and Leicester traded fireworks at Molineux Stadium. Diogo Jota’s hat trick propelled Wolves to all three points, and he polished it off in style with this game-winning goal in stoppage time off a cross from Mexican international Raúl Jiménez:
Jota put Wolves up in the fourth minute and Ryan Bennett doubled the lead in the 12th, but Leicester drew level through Demarai Gray and an own goal by Conor Coady early in the second half.
So Jota scored again in the 64th minute, but Wes Morgan again brought Leicester level with a header in the 87th minute:
Wolves is now eighth, vaulting in front of Leicester in the league table by a point, but both need to start collecting results quickly if they want to challenge for a Europa League spot before season’s end.
Other EPL scores
Southampton 2-1 Everton
Newcastle United 3-0 Cardiff City
Watford 0-0 Burnley
Bournemouth 2-0 West Ham United
Joey Gulino is the editor of Yahoo Soccer and moonlights as a writer. Follow him on Twitter at @JGulinoYahoo.
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