Great escape as Reds make it eight straight

A STOPPAGE-TIME James Milner penalty sparked huge celebrations at Anfield as Liverpool beat Leicester City 2- 1 for an eighth straight English Premier League win that moved them eight points clear at the top of the table.

The contrast with Tottenham Hotspur, which they beat in last season’s European Champions League final, could not be more marked as Mauricio Pochettino’s side continued to ship goals in a 3-0 loss at Brighton and Hove Albion, while Aston Villa thumped Norwich City 5-1, Burnley edged Everton 1-0 and Crystal Palace won 2-1 at West Ham United.

With Manchester City not playing until today, Liverpool looked determined to lay down a marker and was well in control when Sadio Mane scored the opener — his 50th league goal for the club — after getting on the end of a superb through ball from Milner.

But Leicester was always a threat on the break and looked to have secured a point when James Maddison equalised 10 minutes from time before a rash Mark Albrighton challenge on Mane set up Milner’s penalty chance.

“We had to dig deep and find the points,” Milner said.

“The boys have done it time and time again. There was a few tired legs and it was about getting the result.”

Tottenham’s defeat at the Amex stadium was compounded by a horror injury to keeper Hugo Lloris, who was taken to hospital after injuring his arm trying to keep out Neal Maupay’s opener on three minutes.

Brighton’s other goals were scored by 19-year-old Irish striker Aaron Connolly in his first league start.

Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy was impressive on Brighton’s left side, winning five tackles and completing three dribbles in his second start for the Seagulls, while Australian teammate Mathew Ryan made some class saves in the final 10 to ensure the hosts a clean sheet.

“I thought we played really well. The intent from the start was to win the game and we managed to do that, great performance by the team,” Mooy told BT Sport. “Today we put it all together and a 3-0 home win is the perfect result.”

Jordan Ayew scored a VAR-assisted 88th-minute goal to complete Crystal Palace’s comeback victory at West Ham, which moved Roy Hodgson’s side into the top four. West Ham had taken the lead on 54 minutes through Sebastien Haller, but Patrick van Aanholt’s cool penalty brought the visitors level before Ayew’s late winner.