Liverpool overwhelmed Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at a fervent Anfield on Sunday to take over at the top of the Premier League table with six games of the season remaining.
Spurs never recovered from an early Younes Kaboul own-goal, with further strikes from Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson securing an eighth successive victory for Brendan Rodgers’ in-form side.
The win took Liverpool two points above previous leaders Chelsea, beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace on Saturday, and left the 18-time champions on course for a first English league title since 1989-1990.
Photo: Reuters
Third-placed Manchester City, four points below Liverpool, have two games in hand, but both they and Chelsea must visit Anfield before the end of the season.
“We have won eight games in a row and we will enjoy that,” Liverpool manager Rodgers told Sky Sports.
“It’s just about going back to work next week and we have a tough game against West Ham [United] next. The dream is for our supporters. They want to win the title. It has been a long time, but it’s not in my thinking. We just need to prepare and do well, and if we do that we will win games,” he said.
Photo: Reuters
Tottenham had been thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool in the reverse fixture in December last year, precipitating the departure of former coach Andre Villas-Boas, and Sunday’s defeat left Tim Sherwood’s side eight points below the top four in sixth place.
Liverpool have made a habit of scoring early in recent weeks and it took them less than two minutes to take the lead against Spurs, with Kaboul inadvertently knocking Glen Johnson’s low cross into his own net.
Tottenham’s cause was not helped by an early injury to centerback Jan Vertonghen and his replacement, Michael Dawson, was to play an unfortunate role in Liverpool’s second goal in the 25th minute.
His volleyed pass toward Kaboul allowed Suarez to pounce and the Uruguayan ran away from the Spurs centerbacks, before driving a left-foot shot across visiting goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
The goal was Suarez’s 29th in the league this season, eclipsing the Premier League club record of 28 set by Robbie Fowler in 1995-1996.
Roberto Soldado threatened to give Spurs a foothold in the game with a curling shot that drew a flying save from Simon Mignolet, but Liverpool ended the first half on top, with Lloris brilliantly touching a header from Suarez onto the post.
Coutinho killed the game off 10 minutes into the second period, drilling a low long-range shot into the bottom-left corner.
Henderson added a fourth in the 75th minute with a free-kick from wide on the left that eluded everyone on its way into the net, leaving the home fans to serenade their side with chants of “We’re gonna win the league.”
Earlier on Sunday, substitutes Kevin Mirallas and Steven Naismith scored as Everton won 3-1 at bottom club Fulham to close to within four points of the UEFA Champions League places.
Everton took a 50th-minute lead at Craven Cottage when Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale unwittingly diverted a deflected volley from Naismith into the net for an own-goal.
Ashkan Dejagah came off the bench to score a stunning equalizer for Fulham in the 71st minute, cutting inside from the left flank and letting fly with a rising shot that flew into the top-left corner.
Mirallas restored Everton’s lead eight minutes later, though, running onto a pass from fellow substitute Aiden McGeady and coolly beating Stockdale, before Naismith stabbed home the visitors’ third in the 87th minute.
The win took Roberto Martinez’s side to within touching distance of fourth-placed Arsenal, on whom they have a game in hand, ahead of next weekend’s meeting between the sides at Goodison Park.
“The fresh legs of the subs were the reason we got the three points — they gave us the spark to score the three goals,” Martinez said.
“We would love to win the league, but we have got our targets, and it is an exciting end to the season and we are fighting to be as high in the table as we can,” the Spaniard said.
Fulham’s chances of avoiding relegation appear increasingly remote as they remain five points adrift of safety with only six matches to play.
“It was a good game. If we can take this performance with us, we will make it good,” said Fulham manager Felix Magath, who handed a first start to 17-year-old French striker Mousa Dembele. “We have six games left. I still believe we can stay up.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS