Mohamed Salah‘s stunning goal helped Liverpool to a 2-0 win over Chelsea at Anfield that maintained the two-horse race at the top of the Premier League. The Reds knew that a win was vital after Raheem Sterling‘s brace helped Manchester City cruise past Crystal Palace earlier in the day.
Mohamed Salah‘s Stunner Keeps Liverpool in Title Race
Exploding into Life
Liverpool had the better of the first half as they aimed to not have a repeat of the 2013/14 fixture between these two. A fairly uninspiring half resulted in few chances for either team, but it was certainly the Reds who looked the more likely to break the deadlock if either side was going to.
The changed in the second half though. Just six minutes after the restart, Jordan Henderson got in behind the Blues defence and clipped a beautiful ball to the back post, where Sadio Mane was waiting to nod home.
With Chelsea rocked, Liverpool knew it would be important to continue to press and go for a second. They did just that, and it arrived in spectacular fashion.
Salah received the ball on the right, cut inside and, just before a challenge came in from Andreas Christensen, he unleashed a stunning drive into the top corner, leaving Kepa Arrizabalaga nowhere it as it almost ripped the net off.
Seeing it Out
Eden Hazard looked a threat throughout the second half as Liverpool were caught on the counter a number of times. He looked certain to halve the deficit when he brought down a perfect lob over the top and was left one-on-one with Alisson Becker, but he dragged his effort onto the post. Moments later, Willian’s cross from the right found him unmarked in the box, but the Belgian failed to properly connect with the delivery, and Alisson’s save was eventually cleared by Joel Matip.
They were the only real chances Chelsea created in their attempt to get back into it and, while Liverpool could, and probably should, have gone and added to their tally, they were more than comfortable in seeing the game out to move back to the top of the Premier League.
Manchester City Maintain the Pressure
If Jurgen Klopp or any of the Liverpool players knew of Manchester City’s result earlier in the day, then they would have known the critical importance of picking up a win in their game.
Raheem Sterling, who was a vital cog in the machine of Liverpool’s 2013/14 title charge, scored twice in a 3-1 win for Pep Guardiola’s City at away at Crystal Palace. His brace had the Citizens 2-0 up before Luka Milivojevic‘s free-kick threatened to postpone City’s celebrations.
However, Gabriel Jesus produced a smart finish in stoppage twice to restore the visitors’ two-goal cushion, and they stay two points behind Liverpool with a game in hand.
Main Photo
